texts: Why is 'have' English's main perfect auxiliary?

texts:
The Wikipedia page for the perfect aspect says the following regarding the origin of the verb 'have' as the English auxiliary for the the aspect:

  The have-perfect developed from a construction whereby the verb meaning have denoted possession, and the past participle was an adjective modifying the object, as in I have the work done.[citation needed] This came to be reanalysed, with the object becoming the object of the main verb, and the participle becoming a dependent of the have verb, as in I have done the work. The construction could then be generalised to be used also with intransitive verbs.

This theory sounds vaguely plausible and I cannot find an adequate explanation elsewhere. However, this claim has no Wikipedia citation (as marked on the page).

Is this the reason 'have' is used as the auxiliary?

If so, can you find a reliable source?


texts: Which is correct: "between me and Larry" or "between Larry and I"?

texts:
Which is correct?

I agree with the plan worked up between me and Larry.
I agree with the plan worked up between Larry and I.


texts: Can the word "doing" be used in singular for activity without a goal?

texts:
I'm looking for a word, that describes activity without a specific goal. (Its opposite, activity with a goal, would be "project".)

The best candidate for me is currently the word "doing". But I'm not an English native speaker and not sure, whether it's a good choice.

Can the word "doing" be used in singular?
Can it be used for "activity without a specific goal"?

This question got a lot of comments and a long discussion about the word "goal" and if there can be an activity without a goal. So I want to reference here my explanation "To the meaning of 'goal' in this context" in another question.


texts: Comma Use for Predicate Nominative where One Nominative Has a Compound Adjective

texts:
How does comma placement work in the following sentence?
The key to a healthy business is a healthy culture and a trusted and relevant brand.


texts: Do people who metathesize "ask" do it to other words as well?

texts: As most of us have heard (and some people get offended about), there are dialects of English in which the word ask undergoes metathesis and is pronounced aks. Are there English dialects in which this process is productive and replies to other words? That is, do some people who say aks for ask also say flaks for flask, deks for desk, etc?


texts: Where to put the periods: full parenthetical sentence at end of sentence?

texts:
I already know where to put the period when there is a note in parentheses at the end of a sentence. However, I would like to know what to do in the case where there is a full sentence, or multiple sentences, inside the parentheses contained at the end of a sentence. For example:

This is a sentence (I am also a sentence. This is yet another sentence.).

Note the .). at the end. Is this correct?


texts: Word for something that is emotionally charged in a way that reduces the chances of approaching the subject from an objective point-of-view?

texts:
Is there a word for something that "has a lot of emotional associations which lead to difficulties in approaching the subject rationally and objectively"?

For example, I would say that "gay marriage", "global warming" or "feminism" in many contexts are examples of this, while for example "stone grinder", "workplace" or "skyscrapers" generally are relatively clear of these "good-or-bad" associations.

The closest I get to this is normative: The topic is very normatively charged, but I feel that "normative" also implies that there is some kind of intent to standardize. A technical document declaring a proposed standard for something is obviously normative, but the topic could still be clear of any emotionally charged associations that would have made it hard to have a rational discussion around it.

Update

It seems like the problem I have is that I want to make the conflict between emotional associations with a subject and the possibility of approaching the subject objectively explicit. The implicit conflict of emotions and objectivity seems to be taken for granted by many, but I cannot rule out that a person or a group of people can compartmentalize their feelings and still treat the subject in a rational, objective and professional way.

It's the cases where the emotional associations of a subject have traits such that they effectively destroy the possibility of treating the subject objectively that I want to describe, not only those where the subject has strong emotional associations.


texts:
In what situations would you use came over come and vice versa?

For my example, I was talking to my roommate and I told him:

  You should have came to the party.

Then I thought maybe that wasn't grammatically correct. I thought it was possibly:

  You should have come to the party.

Which one of these is "correct"?


texts: Which ones are correct? "At latest" vs "at the latest"

texts:
Had a discussion with a friend:

In their (foreign) online dictionary, it defines 'at the latest' with parentheses around the article, rendering it optional. In all English dictionaries I found it considers the article non-optional. (Or at least it doesn't specify them as optional) The entry in the foreign dictionary made her confident in always writing down 'at latest' when specifying the very latest time at which something could take place. I felt it sounded a bit like news headlines where they often 'compress' the text, and thought the article should be mandatory.

So of these two options, which ones are correct?

"She should be home at ten o'clock at the latest."

"She should be home at ten o'clock at latest."

If hers is incorrect, sources or explanations would be appreciated, as I don't think she'd be convinced by just showing another dictionary not showing the article as optional.


texts: What is the meaning of “Spin that record, babe!”

texts:
I live in Brazil and my native language is Portuguese. I have studied English for a while, but sometimes have some doubts. I'd like to know what this phrase means:

  Spin that record, babe!

It's a phrase from a Lady Gaga song called "Just Dance".


texts: Should there be punctuation before "and" in this sentence?

texts:
Perhaps this is a better sample:

J, says, “No!” and Page furrows her forehead, and walks with J to the other side of the room.

Would either of these be better?

J, says, “No!” Page furrows her forehead, and walks with J to the other side of the room.
J, says, “No!” and Page furrows her forehead. She walks with J to the other side of the room.


texts: Repeated elements following an “and”: Use ’em or Lose ’em?

texts:
Here is a sentence:

  You have to be nice to alleviate the social anxiety and start a healthy relationship.

Should it be like that or like this:

  You have to be nice to alleviate the social anxiety and to start a healthy relationship."

The first does not have a to, but the second does.  Which should I use, and why?  Or doesn’t it matter?


texts: Is traffic a countable noun or an uncountable noun?

texts:
Example sentence:
"Not much/many traffic passes this way."


texts: Is there a word/term for a pair of words/terms that have the same synonym for their different definitions?

texts:
I'm wondering if there's a word to describe this relationship––a word with multiple definitions and with the same synonym for their multiple definitions.

For example, bring up and raise:

It is difficult to bring up children in that town.
It is difficult to raise children in that town.
The speaker brings up an important concern.
The speaker raises an important concern.


texts: To acknowledge or clear an error condition?

texts:
I thought I've asked this question somewhere before but I cannot find it.

When a machine enters an error state, e.g. a printer runs out of ink, it will usually display an error message and stop working until the user has noticed the error condition and maybe, done something to fix it (e.g. replace the ink cartridge).

Printers may re-initialize when the housing is closed again, a digital camera may require an input in order to retry moving a stuck lens.

I have to label a button that starts this re-initialization process on a machine, or that causes it to retry whatever it failed to do previously.

What would that be called?


texts:
Doing revision and homework (is/are) good for students.
There (was/were) once or twice that I failed my maths.

Which verb in the parentheses is correct?


texts: Should "uncomment" include a hyphen, or is either one correct?

texts: Should "uncomment" include a hyphen like this: "un-comment", or either one correct?


texts: The use of "rift" in Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"

texts:
In Orwell's famous article "Politics and the English Language," he writes:

  DYING METAPHORS. A newly invented metaphor assists thought by evoking a visual image, while on the other hand a metaphor which is technically "dead" (e.g. iron resolution) has in effect reverted to being an ordinary word and can generally be used without loss of vividness. But in between these two classes there is a huge dump of worn-out metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves. Examples are: Ring the changes on, take up the cudgel for, toe the line, ride roughshod over, stand shoulder to shoulder with, play into the hands of, no axe to grind, grist to the mill, fishing in troubled waters, on the order of the day, Achilles' heel, swan song, hotbed. Many of these are used without knowledge of their meaning (what is a "rift," for instance?), and incompatible metaphors are frequently mixed, a sure sign that the writer is not interested in what he is saying.

I believe I do know what a rift is, but I am unsure if I get his meaning here. In the catalogue of worn-out metaphors preceding this question, there is no mention of (and as far as I can see, no allusion to) "rift".

What is his meaning here?


texts: Can 'almost already' be used in a valid sentence?

texts:
Is the following a valid sentence?

  "I'm almost already done"

The only thing I can think of is that 'almost' can refer to the time while 'already' can refer to the amount of work remaining.


texts: If form holds, the 250,000 women each year who undergo the same genetic testing Jolie had will be joined by the thousands more; but the mutation that was detected in her, in what's known as BRCA1 gene, is ~~.


texts: I can understand 'Disaster Preparedness' but what is 'Pediatric Terrorism?'

texts:
I was googling for something else related to ELU and came across the page heading Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness which according to the introduction is a

  new comprehensive report (...) practical resources that pediatricians can consult in planning for and responding to natural disasters and bioterrorist events.

Source: https://archive.ahrq.gov/research/pedprep/pedtersum.htm

It is indeed extremely comprehensive and I appreciate the initiative, but I have never heard the term 'pediatric terrorism', which unfortunately conjures up mental images of infants with Kalashnikoffs.

So what does 'Pediatric Terrorism' mean in the context of 'Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness'?


texts: Is it correct to write out the sound of a heart beat as lub dub or are there other variations that are also acceptable?


texts: Is there a phrase or idiom for a physically attractive person who lacks charisma or personality?

texts:
Sort of the opposite of 'more than a pretty face'. Are there others aside from 'just a pretty face'?

For context, the character this applies to is paraded around at social events by their parents for their appearance and goes out of their way to demonstrate their intelligence and charisma so that others don't mistake them for just physically attractive. The sentence right now is:

No one could ever accuse me of being a pretty face lacking charisma.

This will be something that comes up several times in the story, so I'm looking for a variety of ways to phrase it.


texts: Using two "and"s to list a profession followed by two sub fields of another profession

texts:
I have the following part of a sentence:

  Aerospace engineer and rocket designer and engineer Wernher von Braun [. . .]

My intention is to convey that Wernher von Braun was—among other things—the following:

An Aerospace Engineer
A Rocket Designer
A Rocket Engineer

Does the this sentence correctly convey that Mr. Braun held those three titles, or does "and engineer" imply a generic engineer and not specifically a "rocket engineer"? If the latter, how should it be written instead to coincide with the former?

I could reword the sentence like so:

  Aerospace engineer, rocket designer, and rocket engineer Wernher von Braun [. . .]

However, I feel that that is more redundant, and less appealing to read.


texts: Is it OK to use 2 consecutive abbreviations?

texts:
The title is self-explanatory, but let's consider the following abbreviations:

GI: gastro-intestinal

DA : dopamine (the neurotransmitter)

Is the following sentence correct? (Would you be insulted to read it)?

  Factors X and Y affect GI DA levels.

Non-english native speaker BTW.Thanks!


texts: How do I correctly determine realis vs irrealis or indicative vs subjunctive in this sentence?

texts:
I stared at him to see if he were just a cartoon character.

or

I stared at him to see if he was just a cartoon character.

The intended meaning of the two sentences above are that due to him (his behavior) that the writer is (I am) staring at, that is, in the writer's imagination, they are imagining because of his absurd statements prior, that he is cartoonish. The writer is being sarcastic, because they know that he is not actually an animated cartoon, but rather he is just acting like one.

I'm confused about whether it should be was or were, however (I'm a native English speaker) my intuition tells me it should be was and another person is telling me that it should be the subjunctive were.

Any help gladly welcomed!


texts: Using the verb "pray" without a preposition

texts:
I'm a non-native speaker who's writing lyrics for a song. The line I'm having difficulties with is as follows:

  Oh, how I would pray Emily to stay.

Is this alright, or could this be interpreted as grammatical in some sense? I know we would usually use a preposition there but I don't have room for another syllable. Changing the verb is also not an option, as I need the rhyme stay/pray.

Is this grammatically correct?


texts:
The number of students is large.
The number of students are absent.
A number of students are absent.

We easily see that:

in sentence (1), "The number of students", we refer to "the number", so verb is in singular form.
in sentence (2) - "The number of students" and sentence (3) - "A number of students", we refer to "students", so verbs are in plural form.

But I don't know what is the difference between "The number of students" in sentence (2) and "A number of students" in sentence (3).

When you see or hear them, what would you think? What arises in your mind?
In what context can we us "The number of students" or "A number of students"?

I hope to receive your advice. Many thanks in advance.


texts: What does "There is no such thing as a free lunch" mean?

texts:
I had always understood 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' as a expression to demonstrate the economics concept of opportunity cost - whereby even if the lunch is fully paid for, one loses the opportunity to spend that time doing anything else.

However, this recent answer offered 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' as an answer to the question regarding scenarios where there is a hidden cost to the recipient.

My question is - how is 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' commonly used? How was it first being used?


texts:
I understand that 'already' is good friends with perfect tenses and it can also be used with the present and the past, but what about future tenses?

I found the following sentences on the Internet:

the future perfect: When you arrive, the business will already have been completed.
the simple future: When you arrive, the business will already be complete.

I can understand and accept the first one (as it's still the perfect tense) but what about the second? Does it make any sense? If so, can someone comment on it and explain it to me (and possibly give some examples)?

Many thanks!


texts: Is the term "setting someone straight" offensive to queer people?

texts:
I replaced "Thanks for setting me straight" with "Thanks for correcting me" when editing an email to a recipient who is queer.  Is the term "setting [someone] straight" inappropriate if the writer/speaker or reader/listener does not view straightness as better than non-straightness?

Note that I am not interested in opinions as to whether people who are offended by such a remark are too sensitive.  I am only interested in whether using it would be likely to offend or make me appear to be prejudiced.

UPDATE: Yes, the question is serious (although I'm happy that it's also amusing some people).  My understanding is that most blind people are not offended by the metaphorical use of "see" (as in "see what I'm saying") and that many African-Americans don't like "black" used as a negative (as in "black mark").  I'm just trying to figure out which category "straight" as correct goes in.


texts:
Before Sarah can board the bus, she needs to get some coins for the fare.

Before she can board the bus, Sarah needs to get some coins for the fare.

My questions are:

Between the above two sentences, which is more correct?

Can the pronoun come before the noun?

Is there any rule defining this issue?

Also, must the noun only be in the main clause?


texts: Use of “well” to signal a pseudo-awkward pause before an impending word repetition or pun

texts:
In an article titled “The Ice Age Cometh” (Fortune, May 25, 1998, reprinted in The Great Unraveling, 2003), Paul Krugman writes:

  Suppose that two tribes—the Clan of the Cave Bear and its neighbor, the Clan of the Cave Bull—live in close proximity, but traditionally follow different hunting strategies. The Cave Bears tend to hunt rabbits—a safe strategy, since you can be pretty sure of finding a rabbit every day, but one with a limited upside, since a rabbit is only a rabbit. The Cave Bulls, on the other hand, go after mammoths—risky since you never know when or if you’ll find one, but potentially very rewarding, since mammoths are, well, mammoth.

The thinking behind the phrase “mammoths are, well, mammoth” seems to be that by visibly hesitating in the midst of the semi-tautological observation that “mammoths are mammoth,” Krugman either distances himself from the obviousness of the observation (by indicating that he is aware of it) or slows down his narrative so that readers can savor the flash of wit.

In the past several years, I have seen dozens of instances of this use of well. For example, from The Rough Guide to the Earth (2007):

  The other group [of meteorites] are the finds. These are meteorites that are, well, found, either by chance or by searchers looking for them after reports of a fall.

And from Susan Pinker, The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women, and the Real Gender Gap (2008):

  The bell curve simply looks different for males, with more men at the tail ends of the distribution, where their measured skills are either dismal, stellar, or a mix of the two. ... Comparing men and women in the middle ranges one finds fewer sex differences, but at the extremes the picture looks—well—extreme.

I had imagined that this particular use of well was a fairly recent phenomenon. (A Google Books search for the phrase “work is, well, work,” for example, turned up nine unique relevant matches, none from before 1975.) But then I found this example from Walter de la Mare, Memoirs of a Midget (1922):

  As for poetry, one might have guessed from what they said that it meant no more than — well, its "meaning." As if a butterfly were a chrysalis.

In a question-and-answer on this site about Garbage/stuff words, several answerers cited the terms "discourse markers" (identified as "words we use in speech to separate different pieces of information") and "fillers" (identified as words that "fill in gaps while the speaker thinks of what to say next." However, what I'm talking about here is not the unconscious use of a filler word while searching for a way to complete a thought, but the hyperconscious simulation of such use, for literary effect.

My questions are

Is there a standard rhetorical term for this formulaic use of well (or an allied word such as ahem or erm) to express self-aware hesitation prior to stating the obvious?
How far back historically does use of this tactic in English go?


texts: Word closest to the meaning of this sentence

texts:
Upon reading this sentence in an article, I have tried to find the best word to synonymously insert for the sake of practice. (I felt that this question would be better answered in this forum)

The sentence is:

  "Rather than the familiar A through F in each subject, standards-based report cards might feature numbers or phrases that represent whether students have reached, exceeded, or yet met various specific performance expectations."

I would like to replace the word "feature" with either "present" or "report" because I feel like that is as best as it can get. Which word should I use to better capture the essence of the sentence and still have consistent meaning?


texts: BrEng: "pull your finger out", "cock up" and "stuff it" What do they mean?

texts:
In the British sitcom, The Thin Blue Line, Detective Grim makes three intelligently crafted sentences, which are given below. What do they mean?

  It's my arse on the line, so you better pull your finger out

  It's my arse on the line, and I don't want a cock up

  It's my arse on the line, and if you stuff it, I will be red in the face


texts: Why does "damages" mean "the sum of money claimed or adjudged to be paid in compensation for loss or injury sustained"?

texts:
Why did English lawyers pick "damages"?  Why not recompense, reparation, requital, or even Latinate terms like "expiation" or "solatium"? These are clearer because you won't mix these up with "damage." "Damages" is confusing because it's already the plural of "damage." I trust it's glaring why "damages" is confusing and unintuitive.
It's unintuitive because many English judges write claiming/seeking/recovering damages, which sounds like you're claiming/seeking/recovering harms and injuries! I know that legal damages are related to  damage, but they're not the same. It feels more intuitive to say "claiming/seeking/recovering + recompense, reparation, requital."
The Grammarphobia Blog: On 'damage' and 'damages'

Centuries ago, however, both “damage” and “damages” were used to mean a loss as well as compensation for such a loss. Here’s an example in the Oxford English Dictionary for the plural used in the sense of loss or injury: “Repairing the damages which the kingdom had sustained by war” (The History of England, 1771, by Oliver Goldsmith).

damage (n.) | Origin and meaning of damage by Online Etymology Dictionary

c. 1300, "harm, injury; hurt or loss to person, character, or estate," from Old French damage, domage  "loss caused by injury" (12c., Modern French dommage), from dam "damage," from Latin damnum "loss, hurt, damage" (see damn). In law (as damages) "the value in money of what was lost or withheld, that which is given to repair a cost," from c. 1400. Colloquial sense of "cost, expense" is by 1755.

OED

Law. (Now always in plural) The value, estimated in money, of something lost or withheld; the sum of money claimed or adjudged to be paid in compensation for loss or injury sustained.


texts: Showing a Reader and Strong Understanding of the Language

texts:
New to this branch of SE if I'm in the wrong corner, let me know.

  I've often found creative writing to be a nice way to relax; however, as hobbies go, if I'm going to invest time in something I want it to be done right.

I'm trying to improve my understanding of the English language as a whole, and as a result I need some guidance on first knowing what I need to know.  My understanding of the English language is inferred: I understand syntactic structure while writing because it's my native language.

I believe that in order to move past boring technical writing that's devoid of any emotion, I need to better understand the structure of the language as a whole.

I cannot tell you the difference between a noun and a pronoun, other than the obvious character count.  I have tried basic searches online; however, much of what I've found is related to people learning the language secondarily, or for children.

I'm hesitant to review the Wikipedia articles on English because of concerns of accuracy.  There's also the issue that the definitions provided tend to be scattered across a multitude of pages, making determination of the most expedient path, of learning this, difficult to know.

I'm looking for suggestions for reading material that can help someone build an understanding from the ground up, with the hopeful goal of mastery, without assuming the reader is an idiot.  Please answer under the assumption that I know English, but my semantic knowledge-base, with respect to isolating grammatical components, is zero.


texts: Formal way of saying "blah blah blah" or "........" to indicate generic filler or omissions in a document when providing examples

texts:
In my specific case, I'm writing a tutorial on how to format a list of items.  Now I would usually say etc. , but in my mind you can only use etc. following a statement, rather than proceeding it.

So I would be happy to when addressing how "thing1", "thing2" and "thing3" should be formatted, say that the finished product should look like:

  { thing1 thing2 thing3 etc.  }

But to my mind, when addressing things 24-26,

  { etc.  thing24 thing25 thing26 etc. }

doesn't seem right.

Is there a short latin word or other more formal convention that fills the gap I'm looking for?  Rather than resorting to:

  { blah blah blah thing24 thing25 thing26 etc.
  }

Which isn't that professional.

Of course in many cases it's possible to get around this by just not giving such an example, but this is interesting to me as a general question as well as to solve a specific problem.


texts:
What I should use? Note that MOPSO and NSGA-II are two different methodologies.

  Although MOPSO had not been applied to P300-BCI systems studies,
  NSGA-II did.

or

  Although MOPSO had not been applied to P300-BCI systems studies,
  NSGA-II had.


texts: Word for someone who jumps ship when things get hard?

texts: What is the word that captures the attitude of escaping a circumstance when things seem to get hard or are going bad.


texts: Do people use misery and misery guts the same way?

texts:
I m wondering whether I can use misery and misery guts the same way, such as in this sentence :

You re such a...

Does this mean the same thing?

I understood that both means to be in a bad mood


texts: Do you say "I'll become 60 years old" or "I am becoming 60 years old?"


texts: Does a person run or stand for election? I have a sentence that reads: "Now  is the time to start thinking of standing for election to a lodge office." I have been told that it should read: "...run for lodge office." Is that true?


texts:
I am baffled by the usage of "for" in the following sentence:
A girl asks a guy "Would you kiss me for 100 dollars?"
Does she mean:
A:   You kiss me and you get 100 dollars
or
B:   You give me 100 dollars and you can kiss me?


texts: Which is preferable form: "we are a human" or "we are human"

texts:
Which is preferable sentence:

We are a human after all.

or

We are human after all.

without a

From my perspective both looks the same, or a can point on human definition


texts:
Here is the sentence:

  In a more general sense, the later used phrase "reckless investors"
      could be regarded as a laughable contradiction in terms—something like
      "spendthrift misers"—were this misuse of language not so mischievous.

I understand what it tried to express, however, the last part "were this misuse of language not so mischievous" confused me a lot.  I don't know how it can fit in the sentence structure in English grammar.


texts: Should I use "where" or "that" after "there have been cases"?

texts:
For instance：

  Yet there have been cases that/where host cities ended up with heavy debts.

Which one is better in grammar, and why?


texts: The grammatical explanation of "After 10 minutes of me nagging her"

texts:
Can you please explain to me the reason of using "me" instead of "I" for the following sentence:

  "after 10 minutes of me nagging her".


texts:
I have been reading conversations like the following:

  Person 1: Hey, let's go for a jog this afternoon!
  Person 2: Let's!

Is it correct to only say "Let's!" instead of "Let's go!"?


texts: I work in insurance where we refer to our customers as policyholders (one word); however, I always thought it was two.  Can anyone enlighten me?


texts: Can I use "Crannies and nooks" instead of " nooks and crannies"

texts:
I have only found the usage of "nooks and crannies", but no references to the "crannies and nooks" anywhere. Can I reverse them and use it ?
Thanks


texts:
Is it correct to say ''For a long time I haven't visited Tom'', without continuing the sentence? Isn't there any grammar rule to state that the order should be : ''I haven't visited Tom for a long time''?

It doesn't sound right to me. I feel like I need and affirmative sentence to follow ''For a long time'', if I don't give an explanation of my actions.

Maybe I'm just tired, It's almost 2am here. Thank you.


texts:
Please, help me understand how to build a sentence in an email to sound natural, clear, and polite. (I am not a native speaker of English.)

Description of the situation: I send a product inquiry to a company and got a reply with some technical details and the contact information of their distributor company. They ask me to contact the distributor for purchasing information. They also have copied the distributor's email address in this reply email (in "cc" field) so the distributor will know that I might be contacting them (and explicitely wrote me about this in the email).

My question: I assume that I shouldn't reproduce all the details they already should be aware of. (Please, correct me about this if I am wrong.) How in my email to the distributor, before asking for purchasing details should I refer to the fact that they already know the essence of the question from the received copy of vendor's reply to me?

I mean just the help on correct wording of the phrase. Something like:

  ..as you already know from the copy of the email from "X" company to me you received yesterday..


texts: If I can "fall in" love, can I "fall in" depression?

texts:
In Italian we say essere innamorato (to be in love) whereas the English idiom, to fall in love, expresses the idea of abandonment, of letting oneself go.

  mi sono innamorato = I am in love, and  I've fallen in love.
  ci siamo innamorati = we are in love, and we fell in love.

Although the idiom fall in love does not exist in Italian,  it does have the idiom "fall in depression" (to be depressed).

  mi sono caduto/a in depressione, is literally: “I've fallen (or fell) in depression”
  ci siamo caduti in depressione, is literally: “we fell in depression”

I looked up the phrase fall in depression in Google and saw to my surprise that it's not as common as I thought it would be. What's more, it also means a slump in the economy mixed in with the results, e.g. since real wage rates rise in prosperity and fall in depression, so Google Ngram viewer won't be of much help.

For all that, is “fall into a depression” perhaps more appropriate and grammatical? What about “fall into depression”?
Have I forgotten an alternative saying, or idiom  that expresses finding oneself suddenly (or even gradually) despondent and experiencing great solitude?


texts: Resource for complex pronunciation queries

texts:
I haven't seen any questions about resources so I'm not sure if it's accepted but let's try anyway.

I recently learned that the word quay is pronounced /ˈkiː/. I was wondering if there are other words where ay makes a /iː/ sound, not necessarily at the end of the word.

Is there a website or tool where I can find such an information? Somewhere I can input parts of a word and phonetics, and see what words match both? Or anything else that would answer that type of question.

I figured I could use a rhyme dictionary but it wouldn't cover occurrences where the bigram is not at the end of the word.


texts:
I'm a non-native English speaker and have recently come across a phrase, also written by a non-native English speaker, that puzzled me:

  Automatic creating tasks

(this is the name of a software feature that creates multiple tasks based on some pre-defined values (you don't have to manually create each of them))

It seems 100% incorrect, but I can't figure out why. Or is it me who is incorrect thinking the prase is wrong? Can someone give me a hint?

My suggestion is that the gerund can't be modified by an adjective and followed by a noun...


texts: What is the meaning of "Stir the pot" idiom?

texts:
Dear helpful folks who saved me several times. I need your help again :)

I am reading the introduction for the finance course and the author is using the expression "stir the pot" in the following context:

"My name is Aswath Damodaran and I teach corporate finance and valuation at the Stern School of Business at New York University. I describe myself as a teacher first, who also happens to love untangling the puzzles of corporate finance and valuation, and writing about my experiences. As a result, I happen to be at the intersection of three businesses, education, publishing and financial services, that are all big, inefficiently run and deserve to be disrupted. I may not have the power to change the status quo in any of these businesses, but I can stir the pot, and this website is my attempt to do so."


texts:
In "The Star Fraction" by Ken MacLeod, a Scottish science fiction author, a couple walks through a street and past a "trodie". The novel is set in Britain, so it may be a British expression. The street is in a future London.

Full sentence:

  "Jordan took her elbow and ostentatiously steered her past the trodie
  collapsed in the doorway of a Help the Waged charity shop."

Googling the expression didn't help. I can't find any reference to it in Cambridge.

It is the only occurence in the book (Kindle Edition) and after the scene there is no further reference to the word. It's not crucial to the plot, I'm just curious what it means.


texts: What is the metaphoric antonym to “paycheck to paycheck living?”

texts:
Is there any metaphoric antonym to “pay check to paycheck living”?

In Japanese we have the word, ‘Kirigirisu zoku’ – people who live like a grasshopper who squanders money and not prepare for winter as against ‘Ari zoku’ – people who live like an ant who works hard and saves money to brace for hardship. This came from Ant and Grasshopper episode of Aesop Fables. But I don’t think “Kirigiris-like” living analogy applies to “paycheck to paycheck” living, because it merely refers to unwise spendthrift life.


texts: How to convey the direction of a relation between two things?

texts:
There can be asymmetric relations between two entities. E.g. Parent-child. Both entities are related, but neither relates to the other as the other relates to it.

I'm writing a philosophy paper that treats these kinds of relations in an abstract manner. Consequently the words I'll be using to reference related entities will not convey any information about the relation they bear to each other (e.g. parent-child).

That said, I've used the parent-child relation in the following example to make it more concrete.

Example: 'The wording, 'x is the parent of y', references a 1:1 asymmetric relation from x  to y.'

I used from and to to construct that sentence; however, I'm not confident that those are the best prepositions in this case. What preposition(s) do you think are best in this case?

Some other possibilities

...that x bears to y
...of x to y (credit: Mari-Lou A)
...that x has to y


texts: Use of "which in part" - what grammar rule is involved?

texts:
Can someone explain how this author uses "which in part" in this sentence? What grammar rule allows the author to use "which in part"? How can I too use "which in part" correctly in a sentence?

  The investment shows Amazon’s willing to stick its neck out for a food delivery company—and squashes concerns that Uber’s disappointing IPO (which in part hinged on the success of its Uber Eats service) would stifle food delivery hype.


texts: "I intend it to sing" - old English sentence structure or idiom?

texts:
While watching the series "The Terror" I came upon a sentence concerning an eulogy:

  It will have to act as the only eulogy our boy Graham will be given out here.
  And I intend it to sing.

In this case, is it an old-fashioned way of saying "I will sing these words out" or is it an idiom meaning "I intend it to be good."?

Thank you in advance for your input.


texts: Formal way to tell someone they accidentally sent you someone else’s email?

texts:
I have received an email from someone at work. He’s quite senior and probably would get quite angry to get an “accusing” message like:

  I wasn’t supposed to get this email. It looks like you sent me it by
  mistake.

What is a more gentle but formal way of pointing out his mistake?


texts: Difference between sentences starting with "don't you...'' and "do(did) you..."

texts:
"Look, some buses are coming this way, don't you see them?"
"Look, some buses are coming this way, did you see them?"
What is the difference between them?
Context:
I was doing some translation from English to Chinese. As I compared my translated version with that in the answer key, they turned out to be quite different.
At first, I thought the sentence “Look, some buses are coming this way, don't you see them?” meant something to the effect that "I saw the buses coming, so I thought you did, too".
More, similar structures:
"It's getting dark, don't you think it's going to rain?" (do you think...?)
"Can't you see that our city is growing more prosperous?" (Can you see...?)
Any answer would be appreciated...


texts: Please translate to American English from the British the following: OH **UK!

texts:
The cover of the most recent Economist (March 16 - 22nd 2019) has in large type

  OH **UK! Whatever next?

From the context, this is clearly a comment on the current Brexit mess.

Is ** UK  related to F * * K, and if so, how?  Did the Economist transpose C and U to be more polite?  Or, more likely, does UK refer to the United Kingdom, and if so, how do we interpret ** ?

This should be obvious, and I will probably hit myself on the head when it is explained, but for now the inscrutable Brits have me baffled.

Googling **UK gets me many referenced to the UK (the nation), but no explanation of the **.


texts: Are the 'Imperatives' used without 'please' or 'kindly' considered to be rude in the west?

texts:
Are imperatives considered rude if they are used without "please" and "kindly"?

For example:

  Go ahead
  OR
  Please, go ahead.

and

  Give me the eggs
  OR
  Please, give me the eggs


texts: What is the meaning of "make another case"?

texts:
What is the meaning of or how could it be paraphrased the sentence "I make another case" in Louise Glück's Matins?
"Noah says / depressives hate the spring, imbalance / between the inner and the outer world. I make / another case - being depressed, yes, but in a sense / passionately / attached to the living tree..."


texts: What is "I have my good days" supposed to mean?

texts:
I was reading a novel and encountered this sentence "I have my good days."

And I guess I can't interpret it literally, can I? Because it doesn't make sense.

  A : It is sweet, though.
  B : I have my good days.

The conversation was kind of like this. I feel like it is some sort of idiom. I can't figure it out.

I don't think the novel's and author's name will help... it is not a published book anyway.

The situation is like this :

Bob proposed to Carol. Bob asked family and friend for permission before popping the question.  Carol accepted and told her family and friends that they are going to marry. But they already knew. Now Carol comes back, and asks Bob "You did it for approval?" And he replies "Yes", so she says "It is sweet, though." Then Bob says "I have my good days."

Thank you again.


texts: Is it "bad" to try and learn southern American English?

texts:
I have always been really interested in south American life style, culture, and specially language, a while back, I asked a professional American English teacher, about if it was OK to try and learn southern English, his statement could be summed up into a big NO. And he was acting like it was not ok at all to learn it.

Now what do you guys think? And if you think it is ok, or if it is not give me the reasons why it is or isn't alright to learn southern English as a foreign learner from Iran who is fascinated with southern American English.

Also I would be more than thankful if you could direct me towards some online sources where I could learn southern English. Thank you.


texts: what does "out" in "fly back out to someplace" mean?

texts: I just heard someone said this way. I can understand the meaning but I don't really understand what "out" means in the phrase?


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

texts:
I was reading a wikipedia page and stumbled upon this sentence.

  A layman or straw man is a figure not intended to have a genuine beneficial interest in a property, to whom such property is nevertheless conveyed in order to facilitate a transaction.

I don't completely understand the sentence in italic, especially what it means by "conveyed".

Can anyone explain?


texts:
Here are two examples:

A: I heard there were those in this town who collect the LP.
B: Yes, over there, Tom and Gina. They are the collectors of the LP you are looking for.
In general, the collectors of the LP spend a lot of money on buying their LP records.

I reckon in 1, the definite article modifying 'collectors' make the word specific implying Tom and Gina.

What I am wondering about is whether it is okay to say that in 2, the word 'collectors' being modified by the definite article refers to collectors of the LP in general or not.

If it is not, should it be written, say; "In general, the collectors of the LP in France spend a lot of money on buying their LP records."


texts:
Is there one word which means "to make adjacent to," or a conjugation of adjacent that would satisfy that?

For example:

The editor moved that paragraph to make it adjacent to this one.  Is there a way to make the bold words into a less awkward phrase, so that the sentence would read "The editor [mystery verb here] these two paragraphs"?


texts: capitalize the field study "language arts"

texts: The field of study "English" should be capitalized but should "language arts" be capitalized?


texts: Is "unexpected repercussion" repetitive?

texts:
Is the phrase unexpected repercussion unnecessary redundantly repetitive?

When I looked up repercussion I see that unexpected is implicit in its meaning. Should I prefer to say unexpected consequence?


texts: Is it appropriate and grammatically good to write 'It all began with one troubling news"?

texts: I am struggling, for some reason, something tells me this sentence doesn't sound that natural? Is there a better way to say the same or is this sentence of mine is fine?


texts:
I was wondering which one of the two is correct:

''he had some interesting theory to share''

or

''he had some interesting theories to share''

The latter sounds correct, a friend backed me on that one too, but I'm curious to know why. In this context I'm referring to someone who was putting forth a theory on human nature - as I read it in an article. Technically speaking he only has one theory on HN, not 2 or whatever. Therefore I would like to understand why theory, when put like this, has to be plural because it is kind of misleading I think. Is it just idiomatic?

Thanks a million!


texts: 'The government will introduce new laws aimed at stopping domestic violence.'

texts:
I have come across this  following sentence but I could not figure out the highlighted part of its structure.

  In the next session of parliament, the government will introduce new
  laws aimed at stopping domestic violence.

For me it should be :

'In the next session of parliament, the government will introduce new laws (which are ) aiming at stopping domestic violence.'

I feel that there seems to be reduced relative clause after the word laws which is subject of it.On the other hand I think the new laws cannot 'aim at' by itself, is it 'a passive reduced relative clause' ,if there is something like that?


texts: Is there a term for someone who barely moves their arms whilst walking?

texts:
I know someone who barely moves his arms when he walks, a bit like Frankenstein's monster.

There is a Seinfeld episode ("The Summer of George") in which someone with the same behaviour is made fun of by Elaine who describes it as if "she's carrying invisible suitcases".

Is there a term for people like that?


texts: Is "They all had 15 minutes waits" grammatically correct?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run”

I was reading an article that used the phrase "15 minutes waits" and it sounded odd to me.  I've always said "15 minute waits".  Which is grammatically correct?  Or are they both acceptable?

Google seems to indicate that "minute waits" (157k) is much more common than "minutes waits" (11.3k).

It also occurs to me that perhaps the former is only valid when 15-minute is hyphenated.  i.e. "They all had 15-minute waits."

EDIT:
To be clear, the context of the original sentence was that every one of them had a 15-minute wait.  Is it ever correct to say "They all had 15 minutes waits"?


texts: What verb describes the action of bringing an error into being?

texts:
I'm writing a technical document that uses checked run-time error and unchecked run-time error as terms of art.  I need to talk about what happens when a computer program does something bad and causes one of these errors, but I'm not sure what verb to use.

In English, we make a "mistake," but I'm pretty sure we don't "make" an error.
Do we commit an error?
Do we cause an error?

Ideas appreciated.  Sources, example usage, and authorities even more appreciated.

Sample phrase:

  If client code verbs an unchecked run-time error, the
  implementation provides no guarantees; anything can happen.


texts: Why do people pronounce "f***ing" like "f***en"?

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker so I might not be exactly accurate with this, but whenever people (e.g. in films) say fucking, it sounds something like fucken.

There's no "g" at the end and instead of "i", I hear "e" (like in the word men).

Why is that? Am I that deaf or is the pronunciation really different from what the spelling would suggest?

If it is, why do people pronounce it this way? Why is it different than any other word ending with -ing (e.g.looking)?


texts:
Does well drunk mean a guy who is alcoholically intoxicated?

  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Most English translation of John 2:10 say that people have drunk adequately, have well drunk, have had too much to drink and so on.

However, on SE Biblical Hermeneutics some users suggest that the real meaning is intoxicated by alcohol.

Neither English, nor Greek is my native language, so I have a hard time understanding why the Bible translations do not translate that correctly. One possible explanation could be that have drunk adequately; have well drunk, and have too much to drink mean ‘intoxicated’. It is unlikely.

But I would like to ask English Stack Exchange to make sure.


texts:
What is the best placement of the word unfortunately in the following sentence -
1) "...though you must, unfortunately, be online for this feature to work."
2) "...though you must be online for this feature to work, unfortunately."

Also are the commas correctly used?


texts: What is the right word for reaction but not exactly reaction

texts:
How would I describe that a person starts using a medical device and it had strange effects on him/her. It's kind of reaction but it's not exactly reaction because it is not all the time.
The device started or kicked off strange medical complication/behavior. What is the right word for that? Looking for formal word.
Thesaurus hasn't helped much.


texts: Can we contract plural nouns with present perfect?

texts:
In either in writing or speech, can we contract plural noun with the present perfect? For example, can we say or write:

  The children've eaten.


texts: Please explain the difference between X's Y and Y of X. Example: "The building's roof" and "roof of the building". Is there a "correct" form? When is the former used and when the latter?


texts: "past end of life" or "passed end of life" or both

texts:
I think it is proper to say software has passed end of life, however I've also seen it written as is past end of life, or for example OpenSSL 1.0.2 (past end of life).
"past end of life" has 321k hits on google.
"passed end of life" has 6k hits on google.
If they are both correct which would you use and why?


texts: How do I choose between ‘who’ or ‘whom’ when the subject pronoun is unclear?

texts:
A friend needs help with his who and whom
Right on the heels of my recent question regarding why 'who' and 'whom' present difficulties for so many native and non-native learners, comes another complex case of ‘who’ and ‘whom’.
The language of a friend's report is bureaucratically complicated and his Supervising Teacher, is very pedantic that the English should be absolutely grammatically correct, which includes the prescriptive use of ‘who’ and ‘whom’.
This means that the excellent generic advice

“use who in every case and always avoid whom”

cannot, unfortunately, be applied here. Many grammatically pedantic non-native teachers in my country insist on the proper use of 'whom', especially in official reports and dissertations.
My friend therefore needs a reliable practical approach (that can be applied in any given case) to decide whether 'who' or 'whom' should be employed in a particular situation.

When does it get complicated?
Problems arise when the sentence does not obviously require a subject pronoun, and the concerned verb is moreover not obviously transitive, making it difficult to decide whether it needs an object pronoun. Again, when the sentence has multiple verbs and clauses, where does one look for an indication as to whether it needs a subject pronoun or an object pronoun?

Appendix: Example sentences from my friend's report
I have extracted one relevant passage to better illustrate the problem. N.B this is not a request for proofreading.

"A study of employee expectations regarding future confirmation in Government service, with special emphasis on the ethical aspects in the subjects' claim that long-term provisional employment is a virtual promise of future confirmation":

This special short project conducted a detailed case study of 5 typical auxiliary health care workers who(m) the Government has instructed Heads of Department to terminate from long-standing provisional employment.

The Department of Public Health had allotted special allowances for all subjects who(m) the Supervising Teacher considered deserving of compensatory remuneration for their time and effort spent participating in this project.

Mr.A, who(m) the academic committee had originally advised against, was however selected as the 5th subject due to a lack of other 'typical' cases.

The Supervising Teacher Mrs.B later raised an objection regarding payment of the special allowance to Mr.A, who(m) she had expressed reservations about in writing, leading to his initial disqualification by the academic committee, although he was subsequently selected and did actually participate as a subject of the study.

The Head of the Accounts Department delivered the official opinion that a person who(m) the Supervising Teacher had specifically shown a reluctance towards nominating as a subject of the study could not be considered for the award of any special allowance.


texts: One-letter word at the end of line of text

texts:
In English language, is a one-letter word (such as I or a) allowed to be at the end of line?  (This question is about a single-letter word within a sentence, placed just before a linebreak.)

For example, is this allowed?

  It was a sunny day yesterday, so I
  took a sunbath.

In the example, I is at the end of a line of text, just before a linebreak.


texts: Can I use "for the sake of" in my IELTS writing essay ? Thanks


texts:
What is the correct method of introducing the expanded form for Acronym in the bracket? is it expanded form first and then the acronym in bracket or Vica-Versa.
Also, what is the difference in introducing the acronyms to the American audience or to the British audience?


texts:
Could anyone please explain the subtle difference between preference and favoritism?

Both of them basically give the same meaning, but there is something more than that in it.
Can someone point that out?


texts: First use of “packing” as in carrying a gun

texts:
A friend is using the sentence, “Nobody was packing there,” in an historical novel set in the 1885-90 timeframe.

I suspect “packing” was not used in this slang format until 30-40 years later?

Does anyone have corroboration?


texts: In one of her novels, Dame Ngaio Marsh has Roderick Alleyn propose marriage to Agatha Troy, who responds she "couldn't be parked."  In context this appears to be equivalent to "couldn't be more certain" that she does lobe him,  but I can't see how you get from the latter to the former.


texts: What do the following words/phrases mean? (2)

texts:
I’ve been wanting to do a barrel roll since I was eight. Imagine
I was a kid watching the AMC barrel roll in The Man with the
Golden Gun. I now know that jump was real, but the car didn’t drive out. Still, it was the best it could be back in the Seventies. If they’d not done that, I wouldn’t have just done the best barrel roll in the world ever.

...

Gary Powell and Lee Morrison are my stunt coordinators. We’ve
all known each other for years and they’re the best, they work on Bond.

...

I had to get in a car and start jumping it. The first six jumps were into the air bags. Eventually I had to go for it. The first jump I’d landed but then flipped over onto my roof.

...

I probably jumped that jump a dozen times and landed on the wheels maybe six times. The rest have been rollovers or nose-to-tail or ended upside down.

I've looked them up in the dictionary and googled them when necessary.
I understand them to mean the following:

the car didn’t drive out => the car didn't move

they work on Bond => they work closely together

flipped over onto my roof => The roof hit him on the head (basically the car turned upside-down)

nose-to-tail => (the car's front) crushing with the landing ramp.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you.


texts: Antecedent of "its" in "the dog attacked the cat and its friends"

texts:
The dog attacked the cat and its friends.

Does the sentence imply that the dog attacked the cat and the cat's friends, or that it attacked the cat and the dog's friends?

How would one properly construct the sentence for each meaning?


texts: word(s) to describe someone judge others by one tiny detail

texts:
I wonder if there is a word or a few words or phases that describe a person very often:

judge a person based on one or two tiny details or critise harshly over small mistakes that one made (probably by accident)
ignore the reason behind the details or the mistakes
often use exaggeration and have twisted logic

For example, one employee has always been punctual but 5 minutes late for one meeting because he was in a car accident. The boss forgot about all the times that the employee was on time and criticized him as 'worthless', 'looser' (exagerated criticising) and refused to listen to any explanation.

Being late was the fact, but the boss is ____ to judge the employee as a person based on this one incidence.

Thanks for the replies, I think these two are the closest:
'judgmental' (too quick to criticise people); 'nitpicking' (find faults in small details)

EDIT: ---- I found that this question is marked as 'duplicate' as 'A single word for someone who is not pleased no matter how hard you try'. The answer to that question is 'implacable', I realize that it does fit well in the 'boss' example, maybe because bosses are often described as pure evil, it is easy to link, but what I was searching for wasn't completely about the evil doing, more about deriving the (often wrong) judgement on your entire personality from one small incidence.

Example:

You were having dinner with some friends. There was tea, you took one sip without noticing the steam, found out that it was too hot, by instinct, you swallowed it with your mouth slightly open, which made a noise that sounded like you slurped (detail/mistake). When you went back, your friends made jokes of you and told everyone that you slurp when you drink. They pointed out that it was because you were born in a small village, so you are 'barbarian', you must slurp a lot before you came to the city (judgement). The fact is that you were born in a village but slurping has nothing to do with it (friends have no logic). The incidence at the dinner was because the tea was hot. Your friends know the tea was hot but still make fun of you (ignore the reason) about your (background, status, family etc.).

These friends may talk to you, help you, but they still think you as 'barbarian' because of one incidence. They also laugh with you at others (in the same way) when they find a new target, so you want to say to your friends:
"Hey, you are ____ / it is ____ to treat people in this way, please stop doing that."


texts: What is it called when someone attacks a person and the offender gets an even worse reputation?

texts:
What is it called when you defame someone and you happen to lose respect for doing that.

For example,

  "George is verbally attacking John, by doing that George is losing people's respect"

Thus:

  George <blank> himself by attacking John


texts: the use of plural in Admissions Counselor

texts:
I am trying to write a recruitment contract and I just found out that the word admissions in  "Admissions Counselor" was used
is plural form instead of singular as an atrributive noun,  which was not what I expected. I guess it could be argued that one admissions counselor will assist in multiple admissions, but the same could be said about mink, which arguably breed more than one mink。 So regarding the use of attributive noun, when is the plural form used instead of singular form, or should I assume "admissions counselor" is a very unusual exception.


texts: Definite article needed or not: A recurrent principle in heart disease management is ensuring continuity of rehabilitation

texts:
The following sentence is about heart disease rehabilitation. Could you explain when should I use "the" and when not? Or should I always use an article with "of" phrases?

A recurrent principle in heart disease
management is ensuring continuity of rehabilitation

A recurrent principle in heart disease
management is ensuring the continuity of rehabilitation


texts: is this an example of the oxford comma? if not, why?

texts:
"I'm a self-employed, nerdy queer girl."

Is that an oxford comma that's omitted, or something else entirely? If it's something else that's omitted, what is it? Why doesn't the oxford comma apply?


texts: In terms of electronic screens (computers, cell phones, PDAs, tablets) what would be more accurate to say: wallpaper or background?


texts: Tense Consistency and Conditional Verb tense

texts:
I had just told someone that someone couldn't join our study group because he didn't have a good enough foundation.
As a reply, someone wished to say, "If he joins / joined our study group, he would get better at English as time goes / went on."
My real question is on the last half. Should it be "goes on" or "went on." I know "would" has many uses other than it's ability to express the past tense, but I am unsure if it is always necessary to keep accompanying verbs in the past tense as well.
Thank you.


texts: Should I consider "Hectare" as singular or plural?

texts:
Every year some 13 million hectares of rain forest, an area about the size of England, disappears.

In this context, should I use disappear or disappears?

But I might see some sentences which considered hectares as plural.


texts:
Which one sounds better?

1.A: I eat bread and drink coffee in the morning.
1.B: I eat bread and I drink coffee in the morning.

Are both 1.A and 1.B correct?

2.A: I eat bread in the morning, but don't eat cheese.
2.B: I eat bread in the morning, but I don't eat cheese.
2.C: I eat bread in the morning, but not cheese.

I think that 2.A is wrong, and both 2.b and 2.c are correct.
Am I right?


texts: Is it OK to name a training day "Learn Productname day"?

texts:
I need a help from English native speaker on below.

We are hosting some training sessions about some IT products.
The company which products we introduce and train people about, say Productname.

So would it be correct to name a training day about Atlassian products as "Learn Productname day"?

For me it sounds like to train about the day, not a product.

Would it sound better if it's something like "Atlassian training day" or something like that?

Thanks,
Natalia


texts: In "Are you staff?" does "staff" need to be preceded with an article?

texts:
Is it appropriate to say "Are you staff?" when asking someone if they are a staff member, or do you need to say "a staff"? This is regardless of any slang possibly incurred through either spoken, or written English.

  Are you staff?
  Are you a staff?

Furthermore, would the same rule apply to a specific organization 'ABC', such as:

  Are you an ABC staff?
  Are you ABC staff?


texts: What is the grammatical usage the phrase "for this most private of moments."?

texts:
I came across this phrase when I was watching a movie review of Call Me By Your Name.
The narration goes "just as they're uncomfortably far away from each other, in a public space for this most private of moments."

Superlative + of + noun(plural)

I wonder why it's not "most private moment" instead. I have not seen any sentence structure quite like this before and I failed to find it anywhere.

It would be helpful if more examples can be provided of how this grammatical item is used including usage of other possible varieties (i.e. adjective in comparative form, singular nouns, uncountable nouns, other prepositions)

Link of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mBOneiKUs
Starts at 1:47, CC subtitle available.


texts: Difference between flooding and inundation?

texts:
flooding vs. inundation

Watching the News, I noticed that the above two words are a bit different.

Some Disaster Management organization has one of its goals listed as

To prevent inundation and flooding of the low lying areas during cyclone.

What is the difference between the words as implied in the above sentence?


texts: What is the proverb of "big fish eats small fish"?

texts:
In English, do you have a proverb like “big fish eats small fish” which means “justice belongs to the stronger”?

For example, suppose there is a successful new startup. Big companies start to eye the smaller one. Finally they acquire the small startup even though the startup wants to be independent. But the startup couldn’t keep its independence due to its limited financial resources.


texts: Is there a name for the Southern verb form "done" + past tense?

texts: Do linguists have a name for phrases like "he done did it"?  What is known about the origins of such conjugations?


texts: Have you any idea what such a question is deemed?

texts: What does making an interrogative sentence with the verb "to have" used as a verb and an auxiliary at the same time sound like? Old-fashioned? Snobbish? Spoken English only? Ungrammatical?


texts: "X is the last refuge of Y" - who first?

texts:
What is the source of the snowclone:

  X is the last refuge of Y

Here are the following examples I could find:

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. - Samuel Johnson
Audacity is the last refuge of guilt. - Samuel Johnson
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde
Conformity is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde
Moderation is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde
Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative. - Oscar Wilde
Ambition is the last refuge of the failure. - Oscar Wilde
I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex. - Oscar Wilde
Sarcasm is the last refuge of the modest. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Sarcasm is the last defense of the truly witless. - John Pollard
[a country] is the last refuge of freedom/liberty. - everybody

Oscar Wilde seems to be the most prolific user of it, but Samuel Johnson seems to be the oldest.

So is Samuel Johnson the oldest recorded example of this snowclone?

There's also the related pattern:

  X is the only refuge of Y

as in:

Seriousness is the only refuge of the shallow. Oscar Wilde

(I'm beginning to think that Oscar Wilde really liked this pattern, or that every variation was ascribed to him)


texts: Does this sentence need an additional comma?

texts:
Does this sentence need an additional comma before the "I"?...

  As an award winning Producer, Director, Videographer and Video Editor I will manage and produce your next video project.


texts: What is the meaning of " I was only to do that"?

texts:
I am a non-native English learner.

Does the sentense "I was only to do that" mean "There was nothing I could do"? Gramatically what is "only" here? Is it an adjective or an adverb to modify " be to"?


texts: What does it mean when people tell you "You have a good head"?

texts: How good is this compliment? When should you use it instead of saying you are smart or clever?


texts: What part of speech does “here” have in “I am here”?

texts:
What part of speech does here have in the following sentence?

  I am here.

I say that in that sentence, here must be an adverb because:

It modifies the verb am by describing where I am.
Am is a “being” verb in this instance, not a “linking” verb.

My friend contends that here is a noun because the word here is, in this instance, defined as this place, which in Merriam-Webster is the definition for the noun here.


texts:
While writing a personal statement, I wrote the following sentence.

  "While shouldering many responsibilities at [company_name], I was the organiser of a speaker series, which sparked many discussions among the teams, ranging from X to Y".

I was thinking of using a word spurred instead of sparked.

Would spurred be an appropriate word to be used in this context?


texts: Name of the "You are defending them, so you must be one of them" fallacy?

texts:
I see this periodically when someone is arguing about a group of people, such as defending a certain group of individuals, or even just trying to explain why something is the way it is. They are accused of being "one of them", or being "with them" to try and invalidate their argument.

Is there a name for this specific type of fallacy, other than an ad-hominem?


texts: Ending a sentence with "because [noun]."

texts:
I've noticed an interesting usage where "because [noun]." is used at the end of a sentence to mean "because [...everything that word implies. Nothing more needs to be said]". It often has a wry or sarcastic tone that implies the subject considers the word to be a blanket explanation for something.

An example might be "She couldn't drag herself away from the computer because internet.", the implication being that the Internet is seductive. Another example is here where "because sex" is used to imply that a group of people have a simplistic attitude to how sex affects people's lives.

The odd grammar causes a clang in my head when I read it, but of course that is the point; the author is showing how this word will stop the conversation dead in its tracks, so it is quite effective.

Is this a new or emerging usage, or have I just started noticing it?


texts:
We had this argument today at work regarding which one of those two is more correct. Neither of us is a native English speaker. A simple Google research would reveal that most Wikipedia articles use the bachelor of format.

For example:

  Bachelor of Arts
  Bachelor of Science
  Bachelor of Laws
  Bachelor of Commerce

The particular case we are having is to describe a person’s education within the contact information of a company's website.

Here’s a partial example:

  John Smith

  Professional experience

  ...
  ...

  Education

  Bachelor [in/of] Accounting and Control

Which one is more correct? Or are they equally suitable?


texts: Can I use the "Be founded on" for expressing the concept that is neither yet proved nor a theory?

texts:
all

I would like to say "Our attack is established under the following assumption", but using the phrasal verb such as "be founded on"

for example

The attack is founded on the following assumptions:
1. blah blah
2. blah blah

However, it seems that the "be founded on" is usually used for a theory,
but our attack is not really a theory but just a fact.

Or what about "built on" but it seems that it doesn't make sense

Any suggestion?


texts: The sequence of uses tenses in complex or compound Sentence

texts:
The head of the audit is so obtuse that he had no inkling that funds were being ingenuously diverted.

My first question is, are there any grammatical mistakes in the sentence above, except spelling mistakes?
And my second question is, what is the sequence of tense usage in a complex or compound Sentence? For example: the sentence above first uses present tense and then uses past tense. How can I understand whether this type of sentence is right or wrong?


texts: Names for different forms of "command" sentences and their parts

texts:
Edit: I'm rewording the question, so as to maybe make it more answerable.

My goal:  I'd like to create a parser that allows my program to accept certain types of english sentences.  In particular, I have modeled a world in which the user may interact with the contents of that world.

Instead of making up my own words, or using ugly descriptions, I'm trying to see if there is some existing academic agreement on the structures I'd like my program to understand.

I've narrowed it down to the following types of sentences, though I'm not sure exactly what to call them.

One type is just a single verb.

"Look"
"Sleep"
"Wait"

The next type is "Do an action to something".

"Get the ball"
"Drop the ball"
"Eat the salad"
"Look at the flower in the vase"

Notice that I'm allowing the "something" to be related to something else (eg, "the flower in the vase" as opposed to any other flower.)

The next group is "Do an action which involves a thing, and a location"

"Put the flower in the vase"
"Throw the ball to the boy"
"Get the food from the plate"

Of note here is the phrase "the flower in the vase" breaks down differently if it has "put" before it, than when it had "look" before it.  Not sure if there is a way to describe that.

Edit note: I had a final group here, but I realized I don't need help naming it, and it wasn't a complete description either.


texts:
What is a synonym for the term 'learnings', as in 'learnings from a research project'?

I thought of 'conclusions', but I am looking for a broader term.


texts:
This popped up during a conversation. My friend said (roughly):

  Some vegetarians don't eat meat. Why not fish?

To me, this felt somewhat weird. Her intent was to ask, if some vegetarians refuse to eat meat, why are they okay eating fish? The part that felt weird was the "why not".

Suppose she had said instead:

  Some vegetarians refuse to eat meat. Why not fish?

Then this would be equivalent to:

  Some vegetarians refuse to eat meat. Why don't they refuse to eat fish?

But by saying:

  Some vegetarians don't eat meat. Why not fish?

She's really saying:

  Some vegetarians don't eat meat. Why don't they don't eat fish?

Which is a double negative. Am I right? Or am I completely crazy here?


texts: What’s the difference between "cannot" and "can’t"?

texts:
Can anyone explain the difference between cannot and can’t is?

Is the only difference that cannot is more formal than can’t is?


texts: "I feel bad for you" versus "I feel badly for you"

texts: What is the correct usage? Apparently it is "I feel badly", but but wouldn't that mean you have an inadequate ability to feel?


texts:
I hear the word architect used as a verb in the technical field and now more often in other industries and groups, for example:

  We need to architect a better solution to the problem.

I am interested if this is considered acceptable usage, as I see this word being used more in published technical documents (not necessarily books, but corporate publications).

I can see how a conductor can conduct, a typist can type, but can a scientist "science"?  A scientist might research, analyze, and so forth, as an architect might design, create, build, etc.

Merriam-Webster defines architect as a noun, however, I have been told that other dictionaries exist that define architect as both a noun and a verb — is there a credible reference or source that authoritatively answers this question?


texts:
Chapter four of Killer in the Rain by Raymond Chandler begins:

FOUR
I paid the taxi off on Pepper Drive, in front of a house where there
was company, and walked back up the curving hill of La Verne
Terrace to Steiner's house behind its shrubbery.

Even after checking the parts, before and after this sentence, it is very hard to figure out the meaning of company in the above sentence.
Something missing or just my ignorance?


texts: Twelve Days of Christmas - one or twelve pear trees?

texts:
I was discussing the Twelve Days of Christmas song with my son as a maths exercise. We worked out how many items are received, but I then wondered if pear trees are a singular or plural item.

On day one the line is

  My true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree

and on every day after it changes to

  and a partridge in a pear tree.

As they use the indefinite article, does this mean the recipient also gets twelve pear trees, or could it be the same tree from day one?


texts: When it is appropriate to use "-ing" in a dependent clause?

texts:
I tend to use sentences like these ones in my writings:

"Bob kicked the boy, injuring his left knee."
"Congress passed the brand new tariff act, increasing the prices of
imported goods."

What is the specific rule for using these types of of dependent clauses (..., "verbing")? I do not know when their usage is incorrect. I feel like I use them whenever it "feels right," but I do not know when it is actually grammatically correct to use them.
Also, does the "increasing" in the second sentence refer to "Congress" or the "act"? If it is the act, then do all cases of "-ing" in the start dependent clause refer to the noun right before it?


texts: Another way of saying 'points to remember'?

texts:
I need help in putting this statement into a more structured heading:

  Points to remember

Is there another way of saying this?


texts: What is the difference between Mitigate and Mollify?

texts:
I have a feeling that mollify is used with anger and other emotions while mitigate can be used with severity of something such as punishment.

  Mitigate: to lessen in severity or to appease

  Mollify: to calm; soothe; make less severe

Am I right? If not than could someone explain the difference to me.


texts: How were 'eyes' and '-ies' pronounced in Shakespeare's times?

texts: Reading through 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' I've noticed that Shakespeare repeatedly rhymed 'eyes' with some of the words ending with '-ies' (e.g. 'companies', 'qualities'). Obviously that means that the pronunciation of these words must've changed, but the question remains - which ones? 'Eyes'? '-ies'? Both?


texts: Question about comma use, coordinating conjunctions

texts:
I am very weak with my grammar and apologize in advance for this stupid questions.

This is not verbatim the actual context, because it is relatively classified. However, I added new content that is really pointless in order to get my question across. I specifically am interested in the use of commas in this structured statement:

"According to the company's policy, the individual should ensure that the document is complete before the event, and when the event is in progress, have the office assistant complete form B101."

In my eyes, the "and when the event is in progress," is almost like an introductory statement following coordinating conjunction. I am unsure if the use of the commas is correct. I am well aware that the statement could be written better by including a period after "before the event"; However, I am unable to include a period in this statement due to rules that have been set forth by a higher power.

Please advise.


texts: What is the diferrence between "minute by minute" and "minute after minute"

texts: I am not a native speaker therefore I would be grateful if someone could explain me what is the diferrence between "minute by minute" and "minute after minute". Thank you.


texts: First Lover in the Nighttime? a little bit of bacon?

texts:
This is in the drama Psych. I am an English learner and I can't understand why the man suddenly says this.

Juliet and Shawn are couple and they are a kind of policeman.
I wonder the bold part. It looks like a joke but I am really confused why Shawn say like that. Please help me.

  Juliet: So, why are you so on fire to help Lassiter with this case?

  Shawn: It’s not just Lassie, Jules.

  Shawn: It’s “Rufus Sewell”. It’s “Sophie B. Hawkins”. I mean, they’re all born in sixty-seven.

  Juliet: (sighs) I love me some Sophie “B”.

  Shawn: Damn, I wish I was your lover.

  Juliet: You are.

  Shawn: (gasps) Well, then I guess I must be doing this…

  Shawn: (cont’d)… for us. Because you’ll be bumped up to Head Detective
  when Lassie gets promoted to Chief. Naturally, I’ll get a title bump as well.
  Something like, uh, First Lover in the Nighttime. Hmm? Maybe a little bit of bacon?

  Juliet: You don't know this for sure.

  Shawn: Okay, I suppose I don't. We’ll workshop the title. But it's moot. Because you are gonna be in and we're gonna get a hot tub. And I'm gonna buy you a dolphin…


texts: Can "weren't" be used in reference to a singular noun?

texts:
I've been watching a TV sitcom lately, "Last Tango in Halifax." A main character uses "weren't" instead of "wasn't" and I am wondering if that is considered correct in some areas or dialects?
For example, "It weren't like that," or "I weren't going to stop there today."
(As an American, British terminology sometimes sounds odd to me; especially the slang - which I usually find spot-on, witty and/or damn funny.)

This show isn't like a "Beverly Hillbillies" type; the characters aren't uneducated bumpkins. So my question is whether or not weren't can sometimes be interchangeable with wasn't, and if so, when? And is it a regional thing?


texts:
Is it more correct to say "I climbed up the stairs" or "I walked up the stairs"?

Climb is defined as

  go or come up a (slope or staircase); ascend.

Walk is defined as

  an act of travelling or an outing on foot.

Both are theoretically correct, but is one more correct than the other?


texts: can an order [as a document] state something?

texts:
For example, a head of any department in a company gives instructions for personnel. These instructions are subject to formal procedures, i.e. documentation, approval, an internal newsletter. So these instructions are prepared in the form of an official document named the Order of the Head.

  Can you say that the order states that someone should do something, etc?

If no, maybe you can say that the order is dedicated to the fact that [...]? What do you write to specify the content of this document in this case?


texts:
The sentence is:

  The purpose of research is to analyze breastfeeding problems that arise for nursing mothers and solutions to them.

In this structure does the word them refer to breastfeeding problems as intended, or to nursing mothers?


texts: Alternatives to the expression "double down on something"

texts:
In broadcast news, especially from the US, recently there is frequent use of the expression "double down on something", usually when public figures repeat some claim they previously made, and usually even add some arguments to increase their claim.

The expression "double down on something" has been discussed here in related questions repeatedly (see below), but only regarding a) its meaning b) its origin (which seems to be from Blackjack).

I wonder, however, as this expression is used so frequently now that it starts getting annoying: are there other ways to say basically the same thing?

Based on the explanations in answers to related questions here, I think I could use a prosaic periphrasis such as

  repeated his claim and added more claims on top of it

or

  supported his claims with more allegations and thus also increased the risk of being exposed if these claims turn out to be not true

but these periphrases are clearly too long and circumstantial for everyday use, or for use in the news or other "practical" texts. A shorter way to express "double down" could perhaps be

  stubbornly repeated...

although this of course carries a judgement of inapproriateness which could be misplaced here; although usually when news folks say "X doubled down on yz" I feel some slight allegation that the claim was unjustified anyway. You would probably not say "doubled down on x" when you believed x being valid. You would not say:

  Galileo doubled down on his claim that the earth is moving

Or would you?

So, here is the question:

Are there alternative expressions or synonyms for "doubled down on something" I could use in news texts and the like?

Related question

What does "double down" mean in this particular context?


texts:
What does a dry sense of humor mean?

This article explains how to develop it, but not what it is.

  How to Develop a Dry Sense of Humor

  Developing a dry sense of
  humor can be challenging and fun.
  Learn how to develop one. If you
  really want to (and you know you do)
  then read the article.


texts: Does "fidget" describe someone walking, standing and sitting down continuously?

texts:
The Oxford Learners Dictionary defines fidget as:

  fidget (with something): to keep moving your body, your hands or your
  feet because you are nervous, bored, excited, etc.  "Sit still and
  stop fidgeting!" OLD

Would the above explanation describe the following action?

Action A: "walking around the room and sometimes walking up and down in the room and sometimes sitting down but then standing up because of nervousness.

I understand that the verb fidget means you are continuously moving your body / hand / feet while you are either standing or sitting down in one place. Thus, I think fidget does not describe action A.

If I am correct, then what are the word or  term  can I use to express "Action A"?


texts: Are both sentences correct? "He is sleeping now." and "He sleeps now."

texts:
If so, is there any difference in meaning and the field of use?
Can "He sleeps now." be considered grammatically wrong?


texts: The British pronunciation of the word "schedule"

texts: Is pronouncing the word "schedule" as "shed-ule" only an upper class thing in the UK? Which pronunciation, "sked-ule" "or "shed-ule" is more faithful to the original etymology of the word, i.e. which came first?


texts: "do you have time" or "do you have the time"?

texts:
I'm a bit confused about the use of the determinative article before "time". I know the rule is to not use the article when you talk about thinks in general. So if I say:

do you have time to do it?

since this is a specific time, that is the time to do something, it should be more correct to say:

do you have the time do to it?

Yet, the former version is used too. Why? Just an exception to the general rule? And what about:

have you got time to do it?
have you got the time to do it?


texts:
The idiomatic expression to have "skin in the game" means to have incurred monetary risk by being involved in achieving a goal.

  In the phrase, "skin" is a synecdoche for the person involved, and "game" is the metaphor for actions on the field of play under discussion. The aphorism is particularly common in business, finance, and gambling, and is also used in politics. (Wikipedia)

Despite its relatively recent usage as shown in  Ngram, its origin is still unclear.

One often cited assumption refers to a citation by Warren Buffett:

  The expression has been attributed to Warren Buffett since in Buffett's first fund he raised $105,000 from 11 doctors, himself placing a token sum of $100.00 as his "skin in the game"

But famous columnist William Safire showed that this common assumption is not true, though he could not offer an alternative one:

  The late columnist William Safire sought the origin of the phrase and didn’t resolve the issue, but he did dispel one widely held explanation. It was not the billionaire investor Warren Buffett who coined the phrase. (www.deliberatelyconsidered.com)

Another source that may have inspired its existance is  Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, but still, there is no clear evidence of it:

  Another possible explanation is that the phrase draws its origins from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, in which the antagonist, Shylock, stipulates that the protagonist, Antonio, must promise a pound of his own flesh as collateral, to be exacted by Shylock in the event that Antonio's friend Bassanio defaults on the loan to which Antonio is guarantor. (Wikipedia)

Usage examples are from the late 1990s as the following one from Selling to major accounts 1999, but the expression is earlier than that:

  The best executive sponsors are people who have "skin in the game."

Questions:

Who actually coined this now commonly used expression?
What is the earliest usage available?


texts: What is the term for the double consecutive use of a word with stress on one of the words to alter its severity?

texts:
What is the term when a word is used consecutively twice, with intentional stress placed on the first word, as a means to alter the severity of the word's meaning?  I am not referring to a past perfect (had had) or a relative-demonstrative (that that), but to the slightly sarcastic use as demonstrated in shows like Seinfeld.
Sample sentences, with emphasis:

I know we're going out to eat, but I am only going to pick at an appetizer because I'm not hungry hungry.
Don't wear something so formal to the party; I don't think you need to be dressed dressed.

Of personal note, some of my relatives decided a few years ago to nick-name the term a "Celaine" (a combination of their names) due to their own frequent use of it.
Note: This question explicitly requests the term of art used by linguists and English scholars when discussing this phenomenon. This question is different from a similar question which requests a historical explanation for the phenomenon described by this term. None of the answers to the suggested duplicate provide the term.  The author of the similar question requests the term for the pattern in a comment, but does not receive an acceptable answer. The only mention of an acceptable term is in a comment made by the author of this question, in response to the author of the similar question, directing back to this very question.


texts: "anybody can dance" or "Everybody can dance"?

texts: "Anybody can dance" or "Everybody can dance", which is correct? Or do they have same meaning?


texts:
I am used to asking

How big was the wave?

and answering

The wave was this big.

My question is that, I think, in the US, it is pretty common (I have heard the usage often) to ask

How big OF a wave was it?

and to answer

It was this big OF a wave.

Listen to 2:12 in this clip http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31093276

I don't understand why the 'of' is there (Question 1) and I wonder whether this word pattern can be traced back to the time of the Mayflower (question 2).


texts:
Is "lustrum" (pl. lustra) an understandable (say, at least in academic publications) or valid/common term for a five year span, e.g. to use in a table summarizing data where space can be very valuable?  In other words:

Is "lustrum" archaic?
Is "pentad" an alternative?


texts: Confused about the use of "on" in "missed opportunity on sth" and "launched a campaign on sth"

texts:
Is it normal (in American English) to say:
1. Collected student body feedback and identified missed opportunity on the lack of campus safety instructions.
2. Launched a successful campus-wide campaign on raising student safety awareness and precautions among 7,000 students.


texts: Is it always appropriate to reciprocate when asked "How are you?"

texts:
This question is related to When someone asks how are you, are you supposed to answer, "Good," or "Fine," and ask back?. There, the answer by z7sg Ѫ claims it is sometimes appropriate not to reciprocate when asked "How are you?". I guess the following situation would fall under the category of "being asked by a shop assistant":

  A little while ago I was visiting a US agency in a European country. There was an American man at a counter serving people. Each time a new person came in, the man would greet him/her with something like "Hi, how are you?" and a smile. Most people responded with just "good" or "fine". When my turn came, I responded with "I'm fine, thank you. How are you?". I could see the man was a bit surprised, but quickly recovered and replied he is doing fine.

When someone asks you "How are you?", he is probably not genuinely interested in how exactly are you doing. Why is it then not appropriate always to ask the same question back, or is it? Can it sometimes be too friendly?


texts:
The expression is from the below text. ('Ravished Armenia' published in 1918)

  In the vicinity of Malatia, and in the city itself, there were more
  than twenty thousand refugees waiting to be sent on. Kurds were
  camped outside in little bands, each with its “Claw chief,” waiting
  to waylay and plunder the exiles. Arabs rode about the hills in the
  distance--outlaw bands, who swooped down upon the Christians in the
  night and stole the strongest of the women and girls for the harvesting
  in the fields.

From the context, I just guess the meaning is kind of 'sub-chief'.
However, I can't find this expression from anywhere in the dictionaries.

Thank you for your help.


texts:
On a CV I want to write

Excellent writing skills.

But for some reason written seems familiar.

Which is correct?


texts: "How does it close" and "Never mind" meaning

texts:
I'm learning for Ielts test, and in the book "Cambridge Ielts 1" which I'm using has this question "How does it close"? (I will extract relating conversation below). When I google it, it seems like not many people have used it in daily life, does it?
And what does this question mean besides?
And what does the police mean when he say "Never mind" in this conversation? Does he want to solace the girl?
Thank you!

(police) Tell me what it looks like?
(girl) It's a soft leather one, you know, not a heavy box-type like a man's
- How does it close?
- It's got buckles at the front...two of them. They're gold-plated ones
- Fine...was it clocked?
- No, I'm afraid not
- Never mind


texts: What do you call money earned through unethical sources?

texts:
Money/Assets/Property that is earned through unethical sources is
  called ?

Money that is earned through bad sources like corrupted politics, corrupted business, ransom money, stolen or theft money. What is such money called?
Is it bad money, black money. What is one particular name for it?


texts: "What a beautiful day" or "What the beautiful day"? And "why"?

texts:
Although we know that day which we are talking about, why don't we say "What the beautiful day!" instead of "What a beautiful day!" ?

In addition, a friend of mine explained the following, but in my mind it is not persuasive—it has not convinced me yet. I am confused.

  Generally, we use 'a' for a generic thing, when many of them exist, and use 'the' when there is only one of them. This also depends on the context. Here, we've experienced many other days, and will most likely experience many more, so it's 'a' beautiful day. For another example, you might go to purchase 'a car' (since the place you're going has many), but might take 'the car' to work (if you only own one car yourself). In politics, you would have 'a Senator' (since there are 100, and two to each state), but 'the President' (since there is only one at a time).


texts: A word to describe the point of land at the confluence of two rivers?

texts:
I'm seeking a word that best describes the point of land created by the confluence of two rivers. The parcel of land in question would be situated in between the two rivers as their flow combined to form one river. Is there such a name?

This is not a duplicate of the question asking about the word confluence. This question refers to the point of land created by the confluence.


texts:
Now I am 60 years old and I want to say that sometime in the past I was at Oxford university 5 years for example but without a specific time in the past, 30 or 40years ago etc.

1) "I have studied at Oxford for 5 years" this means 5 last years till now, correct?

But what should I say in scenario above? Which one is correct?

2) "I studied at Oxford 5 years (for 5 years)"

3) "I was studying at Oxford 5 years (for 5 years)"


texts: What's a word for being disappointed in a surprising manner?

texts: I know the question a bit vague but that's the only plausible inquiry I could come up with. I wanted to what word can be used if someone is disappointed and they are surprised as to the fact that to start with they never thought the subject matter or the person which disappointed them would have such an effect on them.


texts:
When using "confess" or "admit", the following word usually means something bad or something that the speaker is reluctant to say.

I wonder if it is proper to use a word which means something good after "confess" or "admit"? For example

  I failed, but I confess/admit that I have tried my best.

Are there better verbs than "confess" or "admit" in such cases?

Thanks and regards!


texts: Is there single word for "time spent for awaiting reply"?

texts: I want to articulate that lot of time is getting wasted while waiting for a reply from this person. So, is there any one word I can use for "time spent for awaiting reply"


texts: Omission of definite article with musical instruments

texts:
What is the rule for omitting/including the definite article in the following sentences:

  I used to play piano.
  I used to play the piano.

I would pick the first sentence, but I've heard people say the second sentence even when they are not referring to a specific piano.
Which one is correct?


texts:
Consider the following sentences:

I steer my vehicle as close as possible to the right.

OR

I steer my vehicle as closely as possible to the right.

The first sentence is my version (I am not a native speaker), the second version is the corrected version form an English native speaker. I understand why the correction was made, since the corrector asked herself "How do I want to steer the vehicle? As closely as possible". So "closely" is the adverb to "steer", which makes total sense.
However, I still feel like the first version sounds more natural. What if I ask "Where do I want to steer the vehicle to? As close as possible to the right."? Does that make a difference, or am I just kidding myself here?


texts:
Does it make sense to say someone is your senior, such as a sibling?

I'm writing an essay about myself and was wondering whether or not it is a correct usage of the word.


texts: “Government by [two/three/many persons]” is to “[diarchy/triarchy/polyarchy]” as “government by simple majority” is to what?

texts:
The government by ...

... two persons is called "diarchy,"
... three persons is called "triarchy,"
... many persons is called "polyarchy."

So, my question is, is there a word to define the government by the simple majority of persons?

More precisely, I'm thinking of a word that completes the following progression:

  diarchy,  triarchy, polyarchy, X.

In fact, I think that "polyarchy" doesn't necessarily imply that the number of persons involved in the government is greater than the 50% of the total number of persons involved.[I hope that this sentence is clearly comprehensible]

It's worth noting that "democracy" is not the word I'm looking for because such a word, as far as I know, defines a complex concept not based only on the majority criterion.

Note
I have already asked this question on English Language Learners [→], but, just after having asked, the question was closed as off topic apparently because it was "not really a Learners' level of question." Yet, I think the StoneyB's and Mistu4u's answers aren't entirely satisfactory.


texts:
In a physical sense, "underlying" and "overarching" have very different definitions, but if we use these words in a more abstract way, their meanings seem to intersect.

For example, is there a difference between the phrases: "the underlying theme in this narrative" and "the overarching theme in this narrative"?

I think there is some nuanced difference here, but I can't quite identify it.


texts: "...would have trouble imagining...": Is this present participle or gerund?

texts:
Given the sentence:

  Most people who live and work near Washington, DC, would have trouble
     imagining dinosaurs walking around the area.

Grammatically, what would ‘imaging’ be called in this case? Present participle or gerund or something?

I mean, if it is a present participle, ‘imagining~’ might be a description of the subject. And if it is a gerund, ‘imagining~’ might be an object of the verb phrase of ‘have trouble’. How do they explain this ‘imagining’ after ‘have trouble’?