texts: Is it not allowed to use "there, where S V"?

texts:
I want to express some unearthly, mysterious atmosphere of the place.

The original sentence is :

  The task can only be accomplished in a certain place, where...(defines the requirement of the place)

I want to write in this way : The task can only be accomplished there(now I learned that 'in there' is wrong) , where...

What I really want to ask is not whether it is grammatically correct or not(I still am grateful for answering this too, though), but whether it sounds too awkward that it fails to deliver what I want to speak.


texts: Abbreviation of EU and associated punctuation

texts:
Why doesn't the abbreviation of European Union (EU) carry periods with it as the abbreviation of United States (U.S.) does, for example?

A brief online search turned up little on the punctuation of EU.

If you have a link to a site with a decent explanation, I'd really appreciate that!


texts: Word for an opening inside an island where water lies?

texts:
What would be a word to name the opening of an island where a body of water (the ocean) enters into the land-mass?
I sketched an illustration of what I mean:

I know I have used a word to describe this before, but I have completely lost it.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


texts: When should I capitalize the word "principal"?

texts: When using the word Principal to describe the head or director of a school, under what situations should one capitalize it, and when should it be lower-cased?


texts:
Is Don't Worry a complete sentence?

I've tried many sources but none of them have given an answer.


texts:
Is there any one word for the act of being born?

The closest things I could think of are:

I was born
I come to life
She is giving birth to me

I'm interested in knowing if there is one word to describe this; something similar to "I die."

(In Norwegian, we can use the word fødes).

Context:

I am creating a computer program, where I have several "mortal entities." These entities, amongst other methods, have a method named Die(), which defines everything that they do as they die. I would also like to create another method for what they do as they "bore."


texts: Best word for "Dr. Einstein,  of the theory of Special Relativity."

texts:
What is the best word to describe the creator of a scientific theory? As in:

  Einstein was the _____ of the theory of Special Relativity.

Creator, author, originator, and inventor are possibilities, but which is the most appropriate/accepted term?

EDIT:

“Father” seems to be the best fit for the example I gave, but is less apt for theories not as widely recognized as relativity or evolution. What would be the term for a less renowned scientist who has proposed a more controversial theory?


texts: Using "not only" without clarifying what else was done

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  I did not only go to the store.

It has the same meaning as

  Going to the store was not the only thing I did.

Is the first sentence grammatically correct, or do I need to add an independent clause to it?


texts:
When we have a series of episodes where every single episode depends on and develops from the previous, we may call that a sequel, or maybe a continuum.

Now let us say that we have a collection of fables, episodes or anecdotes that have the same characters, the same milieu, and the same themes; yet, this time, the episodes are NOT interdependent. They don't depend on each other in that you can watch/read 'any' one of them be it (in terms of order) from a beginning, medial, or final season, without having to watch/read the previous to understand, appreciate, and enjoy it (the one you're watching/reading). What do we call the 'episode' in this case?

Examples: a sitcom comedy show, or a show like Dr Who. Or, in literature, the novels of Sherlock Holmes.

Is there a specific term to describe the 'independent episodes' of these works?


texts: How is one person in a set of twins referred to?

texts:
This is kind of like "a pair of pants"; is one leg of the pants a "pant" - a left pant and a right pant make up a pair of pants?

Anyway, I'm thinking of twins. Is it right to say:

Jaclyn is a twin.
Jessica is a twin.
Jaclyn and Jessica are twins.

?

It doesn't seem right to me, because a "twin" means two, and one person can't be two people. It seems more accurate to say, "Jaclyn is one of a set of twins" - but admittedly, far more awkward than just saying that she is "a twin."

What is correct/accepted?

A perhaps related conundrum is that 0 is plural (so are negative quantities), whereas 1 is singular ("There are zero dollars in my wallet"; "there is one dollar in my wallet." If 0 is plural, why isn't 1?

...but if there is more than one 1, it is plural, to wit:

42 contains zero Zeros.
42 contains 42 ones.
-42 contains 21 -2s.

I'd better give it up; I'm starting to confuse myself...


texts: "0/the lazy/clever Peter": definite article with modified proper names

texts:
In some grammar book I read:

The use of articles with names of persons modified by adjectives is varied. In most cases no article is used with names of persons modified by the adjectives old, young, poor, dear, little, honest, lazy.

  ... she is the widow of poor Giovanni Bolla .. (Voynich)

  He saw that old Chapin wanted to moralize a little. (Dreiser)

When modified by other adjectives, names of persons
 take the definite article.

  He thought Amelia worthy even of the brilliant George Osborne.
   (Thackeray)

  The astonished Tom could not say a word.

I wonder:

Is this a real rule?
Is this class of modifiers (old, young, poor, dear, little, honest, lazy) a closed set?
Is there any reason for this rule?
Is it possible to say, at least in some contexts, "the young/old/dear/poor/little/honest/lazy Peter"?


texts: Place for doing something (word building)

texts: What do I call a place where paper is unloaded by workers from trucks, in two words or less? Is there is a simple formula for making such nouns?


texts: Is "use" as a verb being used properly in this summary sentence?

texts:
The suggested summary sentence :

  The judge decided who the real owner of the horse was using the horse.

The background story goes as in the following:

Judge: (asking the man) Why did you repay this man’s kindness with your bad ways? Good traveler, the horse is yours.

King: Tell me, how did you know that I was the owner of the horse?

Judge: I had your horse put in a stable next to the court. When the man passed by, the horse never looked up. When you passed, he made a loud sound. It is your horse.

King: (surprised) You are a wise judge! I am the king. I'll make you the High Court Judge in the capital city!

The definition of 'use' is to do something with ~'. In the above passage, it doesn't seem that the judge did something with the horse. To me, "using" in the following summary doesn't seem right. Instead, I think "watching/observing/looking at" sounds more right. What do you think?


texts: what does a three-up mean in below contents?

texts:
Print proofing with a three-up: The two sides show the lightest and darkest prints that are within tolerance. The one in the middle is juust right.

I can guess what it means by reading the whole content, but I don't know why it can be expressed in this way, is it a kind of fixed usage?


texts:
I couldn't find anything in Longman dictionary about this word, but I heard it somewhere which by now I don't remember where and when.
What does it mean?


texts: Is there a word for "people who are computer illiterate"?

texts:
Just as there is "computerate" to describe those who show familiarity with, and ability to use computers, is there a word to describe the opposite, those who are computer illiterate?
The word I'm looking for includes both those who have access to computers but, for some reason, choose to keep away from them, and those who can read and write but have never seen a computer in their entire lives.
I'm not looking for insulting or pejorative terms.


texts: Past Simple with "before" instead of Present Perfect

texts:
I have a problem with sentences in this context. I was using a pair of jeans but now they are not okay and I am not using them anymore so should I say:

A: These jeans were always okay before.

or

B: These jeans have been always okay before.

What about had been?


texts: Why is "thought" (verb III) a noun in "Nice thought"?

texts:
I often hear someone says, "Wow, that's such a nice thought!"

Movies and books often have that kind of dialogue as well.

As I figure it out, "a nice thought" is a noun phrase. Which means "nice" is a complementary for "thought", and "thought" is literally a noun.

I'm also aware that thought is a third form (or second) of think, and dictionaries say that thought is a noun, too.

But why not use thinking (gerund) instead of thought? As I understand it, gerund has a function to make a verb-ing function as a noun.

Are there other third-form verbs that also function as nouns? Or is it just thought?


texts:
From my experience, it seems that although unstable is more commonly used, instable is often preferred in engineering and scientific contexts, e.g. "aircraft instability", "instable algorithm".

Are there any differences in the implied meaning of the two terms? Should unstable be preferred?


texts: What do you call the first letter of a syllable?

texts:
Random Example:

  Superman

The word Superman has 3 syllables. S, P and M are the first letter of each syllable. Is there a term for S, P and M?

If I were to describe I form an acronym S.P.M from the word Superman, the sentence below is the best I can manage.

  S.P.M is formed by the first letter of each syllable of the word Superman?

I don't feel it sounds right. How could I better describe it?


texts: Need a nominalized synonym for the word "include"

texts:
My dictionary lists the following verbs as synonyms for "include":

activities include sports and drama incorporate, comprise, encompass, cover, embrace, involve, take in, number, contain; consist of, be made up of, be composed of; formal comprehend. antonym exclude.

don't forget to include the cost of repairs allow for, count, take into account, take into consideration. antonym omit, leave out.

But I need a NOUN not a verb.


texts: Is there any difference between the words lowest and lowermost? When should I use either of them? Possibly lowermost should never be used?


texts: What is the exact meaning of "crunching" and "knuckles" in this sentence?

texts: Crunching so many numbers that my knuckles hurt.


texts:
Before he could shoot I knocked the gun out of his hand, and the next instant had kicked it into the sea.
(my emphasis)
The Lighthouse on Shivering Sand, J S Fletcher (1865–1935) Gutenberg Australia

The last part "had kicked it into the sea"
This is obviously not prior to the preceding actions.
This action happens after the preceding actions.
But the past perfect tense is used here?
Is it possible? If so, to what effect?


texts: What is the grammatical basis for using "a" before a present participle (-ing)?

texts:
Example:

  When I called, he came a running.

My first inclination was that it's an article and the participle is being used as a gerund, but that doesn't make sense structurally.

My second is I wonder if it comes from Latin or a Latin-based language influence.  For example, European Portuguese puts an "a" between:

  He came running. (He came a running)

  Ele(He) veio(came) a(a) correr(running).

Update:

What is the story behind "a-" prefix / suffix?

This suggested duplicate question is not in fact duplicate.  It doesn't provide a grammatical basis.  It doesn't explain what it is.  Is a being used as an article or a preposition or something else? It is (couched midway in the third of seventeen paragraphs of one of three answers on the alleged duplicate post) postulated to be a preposition. But this has no basis in grammar because the only prepositional definition of a is per, as in each, because a does not mean on, not in any dictionary from OED to Merriam-Webster to American Heritage or to any other I could find. This other post asks for the story behind a; I'm asking what tenet of grammar justifies using a, which this other post does not illuminate.


texts: ‘Terminable’ vs ‘Terminated’ In the Context of Firing Somebody

texts:
Terminable vs Terminated

Is the sentence below okay with 'terminable'?

Being under the influence of alcohol or unprescribed narcotics while working is a terminable offense.

Are the two sentences below okay with the use of 'terminated'?

The supervisor terminated Joe's employment.

Joe's employment was terminated by his immediate supervisor.

Bad wording: Joe's supervisor terminated him. (This wording appears as if the supervisor killed him.)

Bad wording: Joe's supervisor terminated him from employment. (Same as above.)


texts: "Major", "Minor": Any words for gauging more importance or less?

texts:
I am writing a list of descriptions of how much or how little importance is attached to an issue under discussion or to a product feature under consideration. I would like to have three or four entries. We are describing either the magnitude of the impact upon a customer or the value to be perceived by the customer.

The words major and minor seem like a perfect fit for the middle values. But what words would be used for a higher level of importance and for a lower level?

My only candidate for a lesser value is slight. I considered trivial, but it has a dismissive connotation, a note of irrelevance, which is not appropriate to my list.

For a higher level of importance, my candidates are prime, key, and chief. Prime seems to fit, given the common phrase of prime importance. But I'm not sure about prime. We will have multiple items with the label prime, and I am not sure if prime should only be used with a singleton.

Are prime, major, minor, and slight the best set of items for a choice list for gauging importance or for describing magnitude of impact or value?


texts: Unable to understand the meaning of "duplicated" in the sentence

texts:
I am studying a topic on the effects of drinking alcoholic beverages on the health and development of a breastfed baby and I came across the following statement:

  The results of this study have not been duplicated, however.

The fact is that I could not extract any meaning out of this sentence and I really appreciate if you could help me with this.

The previous statement is as follows (if it helps any):

  In a landmark study of 400 breastfed babies, gross motor development at 1 year of age lagged in infants whose mothers drank at least one drink daily during the babies' first three months of life.


texts: ex: "Sam [delicately nodded], listening intently and processing a response".


texts: Does a laboratory do "testing for" or "testing of" a disorder? E.g., testing for/of a mutation?


texts: Word for human exceptionalism - not exactly anthropocentric

texts: I'm seeking a word for the idea that humans are fundamentally different from other animals, in that they can't e.g. feel emotions such as fear, anger, jealousy, &c.  It's not quite the same as anthropocentric (= "regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe"), but similar.  Any ideas?


texts:
What do you call a pupil who goes somewhere else in name of going to school?

Is there a particular word for it?


texts: Meaning of "I'm kind of on a clock here"

texts:
In the TV show Friends, there is the following conversation:

  — Did you ask him?
  — No, I haven't had a chance yet.
  — I'm kind of on a clock here.
  — Oh, Fonzie.
  — You know who I always liked? Mork.

So what does on a clock mean? Does it mean "in a hurry"?


texts: The practice of identifying authors from their writings

texts:
Is there an English word for the practice of analysing texts to determine their authors?

For example, comparing three texts A, B and C and realising that the choice of words, grammar and style of writing between A and B is so similar that they're likely of the same author, while C is clearly by a different author.


texts:
I commented on my friend post and the friend replied "Your Point Being?".
But I didn't understand the meaning of "Your Point Being?".
What is the meaning of "Your Point Being?".


texts:
He is home
  He is at home
  He went home

I know that in the sentence 1 and 3 the word home is considered  an adverb and in the sentence 2, home is considered  a noun.

According to Rod Mitchell, a famous linguist and English expert who answers questions on LinkedIn, the  word "home" is always a noun and may be a verb too but it is not an adverb.

Here are excerpts of Rod Mitchell's explanation which show that home is  a noun and may be a verb but not an adverb.

  "Home" is not an adverb, no. It is a noun.

  My home is in the city of Milan.
  The old folks' home is putting on a special show tonight for fundraising.
  Home is where the heart is.

It can also be a verb:

  The smart bomb homed in on the target.
  Homing pigeons are so called because they always home in on their home.

  "home" as a verb shows movement towards/to the home of the thing moving. "Home" as a noun basically refers to the place where someone or something belongs (which is why we say "Home is where the heart is").

  Old English was a case marking language. All nouns were marked in various ways for four cases, nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. Being an Indo-European Germanic language, in Old English, the accusative had two main uses, one being to show the direct object, and the other to show movement in relationship to the noun. The dative showed indirect object and fixed position.

  The case marking showed the role of the NP in the sentence, and adpostions were only used to refine that role.

  So, in Old English, "hām"(as it was written and pronounced 1000 years ago) had the accusative form "hām" (Old English nouns made no formal difference between nominative and accusative), and the dative form "hāme" (the modern spelling "home" is from what originally was the dative).

  ic gā hām = I go (to) home.
  ic eam hāme = I am (at) home.
  ic gā ēast = I go (to) east.
  ic eam ēaste =I am in the east.

  As English evolved, overt case marking, except for the genitive 's, eroded, and so for some centuries now, not only have prepositions become relatively more important, to the extent of being equal in semantic value and functional load to nouns, adjectives and verbs. However, we have quite a few "relicts" of case marking, such as "home", "back", "north", "south", "east", "west" (and their combinations), "this week" and "next year", where in contexts where the locational reference is clear, prepositions are not used.

  So, what we have in the case of "go home", "stay home", "go east", "Milan is north of Florence", "come back next week", are prepositional phrases, namely sentence adjuncts, that add "locative" content, namely locational, temporal, etc.

  In traditional grammar, one claim was that there were four main word/phrase types, nominals, verbals, adjectivals and adverbials – the last one was said to include (logically)  everything that is not nominal, not verbal and not adjectival. However, in more accurate analyses, it can be shown that what is commonly included in "adverbials" are actually at least 3 or even more parts of speech (when talking about words), and different kinds of phrase – each of which acts differently and has different grammar.

  "Home" in sentences such as "he went home" and "he stayed home" is a noun that is part of a prepositional phrase (prepositional adjunct) that specifies the destination/location. It is a prepositionless prepositional phrase, just as "I was there last week" contains to prepositionless prepositonal phrases, namely "there" (which has overt case marking, the -re) and "next week", which has an understood preposition.

  True adverbs are (1) clause manner modifiers: he ran quickly - "quickly modifies our understanding of his speed, and (2) degree modifiers (it is quite hot, he is so in trouble) - quite and so modify our perception of the degree of heat and "in trouble"."

My question is:

Is  "home"  really an adverb when it is used at the end of sentence without the preposition at?


texts: What does "you're no rainbow-pooping unicorn" mean?

texts:
The following is a quote from the CNN news of October 10.

  Whether you're strapping lawn chairs between the seats to keep the kids from maiming each other or secretly fantasizing about that bottle of Chardonnay you're going to reward yourself with for enduring yet another round of "The Lego Movie" during the drive, road trips with the kids can be painful.
  But guess what? In their eyes, you're no rainbow-pooping unicorn either.

What does "you're no rainbow-pooping unicorn either" mean?


texts: Does the expression, “As sound as a pound” still holds its currency?

texts:
There is the following sentence in the New York Time’s (July 24) article titled, “A Chinese gold standard?” written by its Op-Ed contributor, Kwasi Kwarteng.

  For most of the 19th century the British pound had been the world’s “reserve currency," the currency in which trade and finance were denominated. “As sound as a pound” became a widely used expression. The pound was pegged to gold at a fixed rate of just under £4 per ounce.

I am interested in finding out whether the idiom, “As sound as a pound” still holds its currency today or not, when the pound has given its post as the key currency to US Dollar, with Chinese Yuan at its heels now.

Although the author says “As sound as a pound” was a widely used expression, Google Ngram doesn’t show the record of any incidence of “As sound as a pound,” over the past 170 years, but Urban Dictionary gives the definition of this phrase as:

  “The word sound showing approval and acknowledgement and pound to show whatever you are referring to. Therefore showing approval towards something. Originally from the days when the pound coin was introduced was said around London as there was a good exchange rate. Example:
  "The party was sound as a pound". Showing good humored feelings towards it.

Was the expression, “As sound as a pound” popular as the NYT article writer says, and still is current? If not, what word can I substitute for “pound” with, e.g. dollar, gold, Federal Reserve Bank or something else to express a 100 % assurance by using 'sound as X' pattern?

BTW. We have a Japanese cliché to express a 100 percent certainty – 大地を槌で叩くより確か- as sound (certain) as the chances of your hitting the ground with your hammer without miss.


texts: What do you call the page you can bring to exams?

texts:
On an exam, you can often bring one A4 sized piece of paper that you can write anything on.
What's that piece of paper called in this context?


texts: When and if to use "What are you at now?"?

texts:
I wonder if "What are you at now?" is correct grammatically to use, in this format and context.

Two concerns that I have:

Ending with "at"

I am not ending the question with the "at". However, I am not sure adding a "now" at the end does help or not. Will this still be a valid question to ask? Is it valid to end a question with "at"?

Context

I am using it to address a person's need to understand where they are standing with a problem. The closest that I could think of to ask was "Where are you now?". However, I think the "Where" question is more about the location and not the state of the person.

I know there is a very similar question asked at here. However, mine is different in a sense that there is now at the end.


texts: What is the difference between "wealth of knowledge" and "breadth of knowledge"

texts: Can they be used interchangeably? For example: To work in ABC you first must gain wealth/breadth of knowledge about ABC's products


texts:
I've come across a phrase in the context of How to Split a Restaurant Bill with Friends While You Are With a Skint, which was written on March 15th 2015 by Liz Smith for The Debrief:

On this note, you should also be wary of the man who asks for some seasonal greens and a chips for the table. ‘For the Table’ means ‘I’m craving chips but I’m taking everyone down with me’.
You need to have stated your intentions for the chips at the time of ordering. As in, loudly saying, ‘I’m OK for chips’ to verbally state that you will not be entering into the chip contract. Don’t feel pressured.

I never saw "I'm okay for chips" before. Do you say that when you don't feel like something?


texts:
Me and my colleages have found ourselves disagreeing about the correctness of the following sentance.

"The high shear stress induced can lead to cell damage."

Is the word induced used correctly here? What is the grammar rule at play for induced? I do realise that this structure is a bit uncommon.

According to @Edwin Ashworth, this is an example of a reduced relative clause. Although there are other questions on reduced relative clause, none have investigated the use of induced specifically.

Is 'that is' optional?
Inverted sentence/ reduced relative clause?
In which context should I use reduced relative clauses?
"IT projects gone awry..." Qualifying a reduced relative clause rule


texts: "to make rapid" - like 'rapidify' or 'rapidise' [sic!]

texts:
I'm looking for a word with the meaning that 'rapidise' sounds like it ought to have.

The sentence:

  to make the process more rapid

would be replaced with:

  to rapidise [sic] the process

I have considered

accelerate
quicken or hasten
expedite

which work, but are not quite right for me. I'll use 'accelerate' in the absence of anything else, though.


texts: What is the best literary technique to introduce a new word, conceived by yourself, in your story?

texts:
I am an aspiring novelist, and there's this "science fiction & fantasy" story I am working on, wherein I have coined some new words here and there.

I am sending this question to the proficient wordsmiths in the stackosphere, and beseech them to yield a proper way, say a literary technique, to introduce a brand new word without offending the multitudinous readers and publishers who maybe inclined to consider a word not included in Oxford Dictionary a heresy.

Thanks.


texts: "I left before they had decided what to do" Why is 'decided' in the past perfect?

texts:
I left before they had decided what to do.

Is this because this is a past version of "I leave before they have decided what to do"?

Because "left" doesn't come before "decided".


texts: If a sentence starts with an 'a' should the 'a' be capitalised?

texts: If you were to start a sentence with an 'a' would it be capitalised? Because when an 'a' is on its own its lower case. But letters at the start of sentences should be capitalised.


texts:
Since the first two list items contain a comma, do I follow suit and use a semi-colon for the last two?

"He leaves behind his wife of 61 years,_____; children ____, ____, and ____; 9 grandchildren; and 2 great grandchildren."


texts: "Non-significant" or "not significant" variable?

texts: I am writing a statistics text and I am not sure if I should either use "non-significant variables" or "not significant variables" (or anything else).


texts:
Could the words slope-up or slope-down be nouns?  I found them just as verbs in the dictionary, and slope as a noun.

But then I see sentences such as "That slope-up was amazing."  Is it correct to use that as a noun?


texts:
I recently had this question on a placement exam, and I got it wrong.

Which best fills in the blank dialogue between the options in the following conversation?
A : Recently, I've been sleeping far less than I normally do. Do you think this could be related to stress?
B : Well, We all have stress but how it affects us differs from one person to another.
A :...............................
B :Probably, I also know people who suffer eating disorders due to their stress level.

I chose option C because I saw a connection between "poor appetite" in the option and "eating disorder" in the last sentence in the conversation, but my answer was marked incorrect.  To me it seems to be a reasonable sentence and I don't understand why it was wrong, or what would make one of the other options better.
Can someone explain what the correct choice is, and why it is the best fit?


texts: is the phrase "available with me" correct?

texts: I used a bus in which the hostess said that the company magazine is available with me on demand. Is the usage of available along with with correct?


texts: Is there a word which refers to a state for an animal or human that is not anesthetized (or influenced by other artificial consciousness altering substances) for an academic or professional context? I am looking for a term that would make it specifically clear that there is no influence of anesthesia rather then a more ambiguous word like "conscious" or "wakeful" (the type of words I have been able to find so far).


texts: Which is better: "how important something is" or "the importance of something" as the subject position?

texts:
Phrases can sometimes be paraphrased into clauses. For example, the importance of something can be paraphrased as how important something is.

It seems that the clause version is used mainly as the object position. Can it be used as the subject position? For example, in (1) which sentence is better? Is either ok?  Which is more appropriate in (2)?

  a. The degree of dependence on nuclear energy varies from country to country.
  b. How dependent on nuclear energy varies from country to country.
  a. How to read books varies from person to person.
  b. The way of reading books varies from person to person.


texts: For how long has "plead" been used as a verb counterpart to "plea" (noun) even though both words historically have both verb and noun forms?

texts:
In modern writing about legal affairs, it is common to say something along the lines of:

The judge heard his guilty plea.

and

He decided to plead guilty.

It seems to me like in this legal sense of the words, "plead" is used as a verb while "plea" is used as a noun, even in a context where both represent the same concept.
As a simple example, consider this opening sentence from Wikipedia's page on "plea bargain," which uses "plead" as a verb, almost as if it were an inflection of the same word.

The plea bargain (also plea agreement, plea deal, copping a plea, or plea in mitigation) is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor.

Yet according to the OED, the two words have totally separate etymologies, and both words have a noun form and verb form.

Plea: < Anglo-Norman and Old French plaid (842 in Old French in the Strasbourg Oaths in sense ‘pact, agreement’; French plaid ; compare α forms), Anglo-Norman pleet, pleit, plete,
Plead: < Anglo-Norman plaider, plaidier, pleder, pledire, pledre, pleider, pleidier and Old French pledeer, pledier, Old French, Middle French plaidier

Have these words, despite their separate etymologies, always been used in a somewhat interchangeable way, as in the Wikipedia quote? Or is that a more recent phenomenon resulting from the similarity of the words?

Edit: It seems people are either finding this question unclear or disliking it.  Let me add a clarification that I also posted as a comment.
I understand that the words are not exactly used "interchangeably." My point is that both "plea" and "plead" are both nouns and verbs, and neither word derived from the other in English.  So hypothetically, one could say:

I plea guilty.

Or

He gave a guilty plead.

But today, it appears we always use "plead" as a verb and "plea" as a noun, often both referring to the notion of:

a legal plea where one pleads guilty or not guilty.

My question is why that is and for how long.


texts:
In William Congreve's The Mourning Bride (1697), the first line of the play, spoken by Almeria in Act I, Scene 1 is

  Music has charms to soothe a savage breast

This is frequently (and understandably) misquoted as

  Music has charms to soothe the savage beast

Which suggests music has the capability to calm even wild animals.

What does it mean to soothe a savage breast?


texts: "Would you mind if I smoked here?" -- Conditional or not?

texts:
(1) Would you mind if I smoked here?

Is (1) a conditional (i.e., a sentence containing a conditional clause)?

Or is the if-clause complement of the verb mind?

EDIT

I feel the need to make it clear that the intended context for the OP is what you normally would expect, i.e., a question coming from a smoker who'd like to smoke at the time of speaking. Somehow I feel that this type of question is not to be lumped together with a hypothetical question where the speaker does not necessarily intend to smoke at the time of speaking.


texts: Which of these two sentences is correct ("processes" vs. "process")?

texts:
Which of the following two sentences is correct?

  Read more about the processes behind my projects.

...or...

  Read more about the process behind my projects.

The one on top looks right technically, but the one on bottom sounds better to me.


texts:
A: You are such a great singer!

B: So they say; though, some disagree.

Is it OK to use the phrase in bold in these types of situations?


texts: Is it correct to use the conjunction “or” more than twice in one sentence?

texts:
For an example is it correct to say:

  You may use X or Y or Z or even something else.

And what is proper punctuation for such example in case it is valid.


texts:
In my native language, there is an adjective for "advice given without much consideration". To translate it literally in English it would be "void advice" or "dry advice". Meaning, the person giving such advice, has not taken any pain understanding real difficulties and problems of the person seeking advice.

I like to know what is the appropriate word for that in English. Please help.


texts: Can passive reduced relative clauses precede a head noun?

texts:
I have zero background in linguistics, so forgive me if this is trivial.

The Wikipedia article for relative clauses claims that, with regard to the positioning of the relative clause, "English, for example, is generally head-first".

However, intuitively, it makes sense that a "reduced object passive relative clause" would be able to precede the head noun. Yet, I cannot find any example online where such a case serves as an example of the usage of a reduced relative clause.

In the 2009 University of Georgia Classic City Classic tournament, this sentence appears in one question:

  Formed by reattaching the ends of a closed band after cutting the band and giving it a half-twist, name this structure named after a German mathematician, a one-sided, nonorientable surface.

Of interest is this:

  Formed by reattaching the ends of a closed band after cutting the band and giving it a half-twist

Hence my question: can reduced relative clauses precede a head noun, or if not, what sort of grammatical structure is this?

Academic sources would be appreciated.


texts:
Which one of the following is correct/better? As usual, I am more interested in the really good construct than just a comparison.

The power of a programming language lies in abilities of the programmer using it in how effectively he is able to break down the program and glue the solutions together.
The power of a programming language lies in abilities of the programmer using it, how effectively he is able to break down the program and glue the solutions together.


texts: Is it wrong to use use contractions of have when not for the purpose of forming a past tense sentence?

texts:
For example, I believe the following to be acceptable:

"I've had no issues in the past with this client"

However, the following is what I'm unsure of:

"I've $16 in my bank account."

I've definitely heard this before (though admittedly very rarely). Is this wrong? Or is it acceptable? If acceptable, is it considered to be informal? What dialect is this from primarily?


texts:
From Steinbeck's Cannery Row,

  He sat heavily in the patent rocker that was his and shucked off his wet tennis shoes.

A rocker is a chair. But what is a "patent rocker"?


texts: Is there an adjective meaning "dog like"?

texts: Feline is an adjective meaning "cat like". Then is there an adjective meaning "dog like"?


texts: Does anyone know what "involution" means?

texts:
It's a word frequently used in China now. Quote from an article: "Originally used by anthropologists to describe self-perpetuating processes that keep agrarian societies from progressing, involution has become a shorthand used by Chinese urbanites to describe the ills of their modern lives: Parents feel intense pressure to provide their children with the very best; children must keep up in the educational rat race; office workers have to clock in a grinding number of hours."
I'm just not sure if a native English speaker understands this word in the same way as Chinese people do. I kind of have a feeling that its use is restricted to Chinese-speaking groups.
And I am not sure if I can use it in language tests like IELTS.
Thank you.


texts: What is the right meaning of "is held up to something"?

texts:
This all raises the question as to whether it is appropriate to look to athletic figures as role models and whether they should be held up to circumspect levels of conduct. With the constant chronicling of every athletic misbehavior, are athletes the right symbols?

According to the dictionary, the definition of is held up to is pay attention to, single out, but these definitions don't make much sense here. What do you think?


texts:
I have to do syntax trees for the two interpretations of this ambiguous sentence:

"The poor child's story is sad"

According to what I was told, one interpretation refers to the child and the other to the story but the problem is that I really can't see how to do these trees.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


texts:
I am looking for a single word that means that something is best supported by something else. In the relevant contexts, I would use the word to express the idea that there are better reasons for supporting a position rather than alternative positions. For instance, a context in which I might use such a word is the following:

  According to s, x either requires or [is best supported by] y

Of course, the expression "x is best supported by y" is perfectly natural. However, I would like a single word in order to eliminate the extra verbiage, the superlative, and the preposition.


texts: Difference in meaning of 'along' and 'together' in this context?

texts:
Can you put the following sentence

  She raised him along with his siblings.

in a way that the word together has the same meaning as the word along in the sentence above?

If you would say

  She raised him together with his siblings.

it would mean that his siblings helped raising him.

Is that right or am I mistaken here?

Could you use together and still convey the same meaning as the first sentence? For example:

  She raised them all together.


texts: Is there a name for words which fit all four of the given lexical categories?

texts:
This question is Inspired by a practice exam question which is provided below. (Please note I'm not asking for answers to the exam question, as I provided my own)

  Use the word fast in sentences in the lexical category and function indicated. Each example should be UNAMBIGUOUS. Inflection permitted

  A. noun/nominal - my answer: We went on a fast.

  B. verb/verb - my answer: He is fasting over the holiday.

  C. adjective/adjectival - my answer: My car is faster.

  D. adverb/adverbial - my answer: The ball bounced fast.

Is there a category/name/group for words which fit all four of the given lexical categories, as exemplified above? To clarify, I'm asking this question so I can search for words inside the group/category which can be used with this question as it contains words which meet the four required categories, for further studying on my own.


texts: Draw my attention (from something) to something

texts:
"A beautiful woman always draws my attention".

"While I was chatting at Laura's party, a beautiful guy suddenly drew my attention".

«Now I wish to draw your attention to what has attracted my attention most». (Enigmas of Psychical Research)

But can I say, e.g., "my research in social psychology has drawn my attention to the relevance of theoretical physics for behavioral sciences"?

What it should be conveyed in the last phrase is the idea that you were doing something – studying social psychology – and that brought you to do something else which, externally, seemed quite different from the first activity. The attention, as it were, strayed from the first topic to the second one and that was due to the first topic's inner feature.
I would not conceive 'attract the attention' as a valid alternative, for it lacks that compelling and coercive element 'draw' seems to imply.


texts: What is the appropriate (postpositive) adjective for this?

texts:
Many believed that John the Baptist was Elijah incarnate.

Where incarnate means
invested with bodily and especially human nature and form
But suppose I want to liken someone to some fictional character who exists but in the imagination, what adjective used postpositively would apply in that case?
This, for example:

His friends think that he is Bilbo Baggins....


texts:
"I've never been so relaxed as I have been when jogging."

"I've never been so relaxed as I was when jogging."

"I was never so relaxed as I have been when jogging."

First one sounds the most formal and idiomatic one but I'd like to have your opinions as well.


texts:
I found many examples
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22an+json+object%22
but how can a "j" sound like a vowel?


texts: Relative clauses: "I did the best I could."

texts:
I did the best I could.

The sentence above can be rephrased:

I did the best that I could.

In these two examples (that) I could is a relative clause. However, I am not sure whether it is modifying best or the best or an ellipted element. What exactly is this clause modifying?

Secondly, what type of phrase is the best here and what type of word is best?


texts: What is a word that means to condescend in a positive way, such as the way an adult would speak simply to a young child so they could understand?  I mean with kindness and without an air of superiority.  Thanks for any suggestions. :)


texts: Using references to the present in past tense narrative

texts:
I am writing a Young Adult novel with narrative in the past tense however I want to include some words such as now, this, tonight, etc that indicate present but don't know if I can. However, I am reading many YA novels that do. For example,
"She lived in Seattle now." "Now, I didn't know what to think." "His appearance was so altered, now dressed in... ". "I was now in a boat.'"Tomorrow would be a nightmare."  Should I remove all these references to the present to make the grammar correct. Or should I keep them as some authors are doing?


texts: "Alphabeticalized" or "alphabetical zed"?

texts:
In Google, if I search for the word alphabeticalized, many links show that there is a word alphabeticalized.  But in MS Word 2007 , if I type alphabeticalized then it underlines that word and suggests 'Alphabetical zed' as an option.

What's the correct spelling?


texts: Consecutio modorum: Do “that” clauses follow an irreal subjunctive in the parent clause?

texts:
Does English have a “sequence of moods” rule? Should the blanks be filled in by was or were?

If we knew that it ___ raining, we would also know that the
street ___ wet.

That is, are the irreal subjunctives represented by knew and would
followed by the “that” clauses?
If the present statistical answer is was, has this changed
historically from a time when it was were?

Also, what is the connexion between that example and

I should like to think that it were so.

in A. A. Milne?
https://books.google.no/books?id=5G_I_iHN-AEC&pg=PA90&dq=%22that+it+were%22&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih1ZjuyaDsAhV5AxAIHVDuCXcQ6wEwAHoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22that%20it%20were%22&f=false
Would was in the first case not imply was in this second
case?  Or is there some difference that I am missing?


texts:
I recently read this sentence:

  Do not declare this callback function with a void return type and cast the function pointer to LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE when creating the thread.

and wasn't sure if it was ambiguous or not. Which of these are correct interpretations:

  do not declare this callback function with a void return type
  do not cast the function pointer to LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE when creating the thread
  do cast the function pointer to LPTHREAD_START_ROUTINE when creating the thread

Edit: I found some example code, seems like (1) and (3) is the intended interpretation.


texts: Why do 'vomit/limit' use single 't' while emit/omit use double 't'? A study case of relations between etymology and verb inflections

texts:
One comment gave me a great link for musing the answer: "Focussed" or "focused"? Rules for doubling the last consonant when adding -ed

However, my question is the rule in doubling the consonant 't' related to the etymology of the words while the answers to that question, after some pondering, are much more about:

The difference in spelling between American and British English spelling

or

The difference in stressing, and so on.

As in:

Vomit = vomiting/vomited use single 't' while emit/omit/submit use double 't'

Vomit:

  Middle English, from Anglo-French vomite, from Latin vomitus, from vomere to vomit; akin to Old Norse vāma seasickness, Greek emein to vomit

Source(Webster)

Omit

  Middle English omitten, from Latin omittere, from ob- toward + mittere to let go, send — more at ob-

Source:Webster

I suspect that words from Middle/Old English has different way to inflect verbs based on tenses, and words originated from Latin has tendency to 'double' the 't' for verb inflection.

My questions:

Is this special case of inflection? Is this a correct assumption?
What is the history behind these differences among verb inflections, especially between 'present tense', 'past tense', 'progressive tense',
and 'past participle' tense?
Are these differences related to etymology of these words, or only the
difference of stressing


texts:
We had a sentence in an exam, and we were asked to choose the right tense of the verb, the sentence goes as follows

They are having dinner; they (haven't had, don't have) any problems at all.

Now the answer was (don't have) but I couldn't understand why, shouldn't it be in perfect tense, if it was to imply that no problems happened?


texts: Another word for someone who says everything is theirs

texts: What is a word for someone who says everything is his unless you pay half of it. My bf and I have been together for 3 years and I always sleep on one side of the bed and so I call it my side and he said that it’s not my side because I didn’t buy the bed. It’s his.


texts: Complex lists with the use of semicolon and "etc."

texts:
I know a thing or two about using "etc." and semicolon, but not when they come together.
Help me to look at the example if you may:

ToolsPhotoshop, Illustrator, After Effects; Wacom Tablet, etc.

I wanted to mention the tools that I've used to create a project, but only the important ones.
As you can see, the list consists of 2 groups of "tools", software and hardware.
Now it looks like there is more to the "hardware" list - which is not my intention
I just want to convey the meaning of "there are some more general tools that I have also used" but not particularly is hard/software
should I write something like...

ToolsPhotoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, etc.; Wacom Tablet, etc.

which looks redundant...
or...

ToolsPhotoshop, Illustrator, After Effects; Wacom Tablet; etc.

which looks like there is a third group other than hard/software, which there isn't
I am open to other formats and style, does anyone have any idea?


texts:
I have three types of sentence fragments:

  Type A: "a sphere with a stem"
  Type B: "has a worm"
  Type C: "that is red"

How can I call these fragment types to distinguish them?

Context: I want to generate messages from description fragments. For instance, if I got "the apple", the messages would be

  1a: "the apple is a sphere with a stem"
  1b: "the apple has a worm"
  1c: "the apple that is red",

or, for "here is", I would want to write

  2a: "here is a sphere with a stem"
  2b: "here is something that has a worm"
  2c: "here is something that is red"

As you can see, depending on the type of the fragment, I may have to insert some "glue" words.


texts: "The carrots need being chopped" and "The carrots need to chop"

texts:
We can say both of the following:

The carrots need to be chopped.
The carrots need chopping.

How does the grammar of these sentences affect their meaning? Why is it that in these instances need takes a passive infinitival clause in (1) but an active gerund-participle clause in (2)?

Relating to this, why is it that we cannot say either of the following instead of the examples above:

*The carrots need to chop.
*The carrots need being chopped.

This question is being asked because of this question here, which got migrated to ELL.


texts: Do I hyphenate between Moose and Viewing in Moose Viewing Capital of Colorado?


texts:
I know the word behold means to look upon. So why does beholden mean obligated, indebted?

Can someone tell me how this phrase came about?


texts: What is the difference between "Computer science" and "Informatics"?

texts:
I could not find any difference... or at least no good source that definitely distinguishes both.

I tried:

Wikipedia (Informatics has a redirect to Computer Science), so I guess the only difference is the context in which both are used
Google:

University of California:

Computer Science: internal features, structure and behavior of computer systems
Informatics: relationship between what is inside the computer and what is outside (What does this mean? I study ... well, I thought it would be called "Computer Science", but I'm not sure now. )

forum.wordreference.com:

Computer Science: software engineering, algorithms
Informatics: installing new software, upgrades,networks LAN WANS, firewalls

dict.leo.org: Both are translated with "Informatik" in German.
English.StackExchange.com: No result


texts: Looking for a specific word for anticipating in advance

texts:
What's a word to describe anticipating in advance?

  I propose we meet next month __________ any problems I may encounter with obtaining visa.


texts: I would guess that this word is derived from waste (english) + weir (german)? Can anyone provide a more definitive derivation explanation? (couldn't find anything via etymonline.com) Will keep googling for more info and update if I find anything interesting.


texts: Comma after and list followed immediately by "along" with another and list

texts:
Is it correct to write:

Deficiency X can cause problems like ulcers, acne, and fever, along with trouble losing weight, building muscle, and even thinking.


texts: A noun that describes the possession of esoteric knowledge

texts:
I'm trying to come up with a noun that is more descriptive (or at least carries more tone) than "knowledge" and more succinct than "esoteric knowledge and trivia". Rather than saying "this person possesses a great deal of esoteric knowledge and trivia" I'd like to be able to say

  This person possesses a great deal of _______.

For more clarification: I'm hoping to describe a character very similar to Sherlock; someone who collects an overabundance of seemingly useless knowledge on the off chance that it becomes relevant.

Thanks for your help!


texts: Adjective for "with the same name" / "same-way called"

texts:
I’m looking for an adjective that is similar to eponymous as in:

  He is playing a role of Terminator in the eponymous movie.

Except that it should be possible to use this adjective as a substitute for the phrase “same-way called” as in:

  The Luxembourg village called Shengen and the _______ area located in Eurasia.


texts: Are 'game theory' and 'economic theory' composite nominals or compound nouns?

texts:
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 448) has this section distinguishing between composite nominals and compound nouns:

According to CGEL, there are five syntactic tests for distinguishing composite nominals from compound nouns, and composite nominals pass all those tests whereas compound nouns cannot pass any. One of such tests is coordination.

For example, new cars and London colleges are both composite nominals because they pass the coordination test as follows:

  [new and used] cars

  various [London and Oxford] colleges

But ice-cream and custard-cream are both compound nouns because they cannot pass the coordination test.

  *[ice- and custard-]creams

I don't quite understand why CGEL uses hyphens for ice cream and custard cream, but I wouldn't use a hyphen for either. In any case, having a hyphen has nothing to do with the distinction between composite nominals and compound nouns.

My question is whether 'game theory' and 'economic theory' are composite nominals or compound nouns.

I initially thought they were compound nouns, but there are some examples of them being used in coordination, as follows:

  Robert Aumann’s Game and Economic Theory
  (The title of an academic paper)

  Mathematical Methods of Game and Economic Theory
  (The title of a book)

Is it correct to coordinate 'game theory' and 'economic theory' as in these examples?

If so, are they composite nominals and not compound nouns, as defined by CGEL?


texts:
Should there be commas before sentence-ending words such as 'too', 'either',  'apparently', 'obviously' and 'respectively'?

He wants to go to the mall, too.

She's not attending the meeting, either.

He is upset, apparently.

She won't be going now, obviously.

Mike and Bob scored 10 points and 14 points, respectively.

Is there a rule about whether to include or omit the commas?


texts: Is it proper usage to replace a comma in a list with a semi-colon in this situation (see details)?

texts:
While writing a proposal at work today I needed to mention a list of things and within that list were multi-part items. It seems like replacing the comma with a semi-colon in this situation would make the sentence easier to understand, but is it correct usage?

With standard punctuation this could get confusing:

  Some of my favorite things to do are
  camping, playing football and
  baseball, watching Laurel and Hardy
  Movies, and traveling.

Proposed alternative. Is this acceptable usage?

  Some of my favorite things to do are
  camping; playing football and
  baseball; watching Laurel and Hardy
  Movies; and traveling.


texts: What does “let alone brain anybody with” mean?

texts:
Yet another a part of Circular Staircase, by Mary Rinehart:

  "Not out in the hall!" she gasped; "Oh, Miss Rachel, not out in the
  hall!" trying to hold me back.  But I am a large woman and Liddy is
  small.  We got to the door, somehow, and Liddy held a brass andiron,
  which it was all she could do to lift, let alone brain anybody with.  I
  listened, and, hearing nothing, opened the door a little and peered
  into the hall.

Are any words omitted in the sentence that includes let alone brain anybody with?  Something looks missing from this sentence.


texts: How do different stresses change the meaning of the sentence "I don't know"

texts: If one says "I don't know" in 3 different ways, like, when they stress "I", "don't" and "know" respectively. How does the meaning of this sentence change?


texts: Idiomatic way of implying "by a multiplicative factor"

texts:
I was told that saying

  A equals B within a factor C

is not correct. Is it true? My interlocutor, who is not a native anglophone, told me that "within" cannot be used in such a way, arguing that "[...] A is not inside a factor C, is it?"

Actually, I saw this idiomatic expression here and there, but I need a human confirmation.


texts: Single analogous word to "pedagogy" for learning

texts:
Merriam-Webster defines pedagogy as "the art, science, or profession of teaching."

The concepts don't seem to map very well, but is there a word such that:

pedagogy : teaching :: _____ : learning


texts: As a Spanish speaking person, I think I have a very good level of English, but I still get confused with the use of “by myself” versus “by my own”.  Can someone please give me some key ideas (and examples) about when to use which, so I can definitely avoid this doubt?


texts: What is the difference between a ravine, gorge and canyon?

texts:
I recently went for a hike up a gorge and then down a ravine. What is the difference between a gorge and a ravine? And how does canyon fit in?

My impression was that there was an implied scale, where a ravine is smaller than a gorge, which is smaller than a canyon.

All of these geographical features seem to be created in the same way: a river or stream eroding hard rocky material, giving steep sides.

Looking at Wikipedia, there are entries for both "ravine" and "canyon". "Gorge" redirects to "canyon". It seems to imply that all three words can be used interchangeably. But are there some technical differences between these words to inform their usage?

Edit: adding definitions

Oxford Living English dictionary definitions: (edit: thanks Mitch)

gorge: A narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it.

ravine: A deep, narrow gorge with steep sides.

canyon: A deep gorge, typically one with a river flowing through it, as found in North America.

gully: (1) A ravine formed by the action of water; or (2) A deep artificial channel serving as a gutter or drain.

Cambridge English dictionary:

gorge: a deep, narrow valley with steep sides, usually formed by a river or stream cutting through hard rock

ravine: a deep narrow valley with steep sides

canyon: a large valley with very steep sides and usually a river flowing along the bottom

gully: (1) a narrow valley or channel with steep sides, made by a fast-flowing stream; or (2) an artificial channel that is used to get rid of water that is not wanted

Merriam-Webster English dictionary:

gorge: a narrow passage through land especially: a narrow steep-walled canyon or part of a canyon

ravine: a small narrow steep-sided valley that is larger than a gully and smaller than a canyon and that is usually worn by running water

canyon: a deep narrow valley with steep sides and often with a stream flowing through it

gully: (1) a trench which was originally worn in the earth by running water and through which water often runs after rains; or (2) a small valley or gulch

The definition of canyon from Cambridge seems to fit the best, considering the large size of the Grand Canyon, or Fish River Canyon. Merriam-Webster seems to agree that a ravine is smaller than a canyon, and also seems to define gorge as a smaller canyon. Overall, given these definitions, I would use canyon for the largest land-forms, and gully for the smallest ones. Gorge and ravine seem like they could be used interchangeably.


texts: The last moment of something but not sure when to use

texts:
My hands were  trembling until  the last moment of checking the results .
Or should i say
Until the last moment ,my hands were trembling by checking the results

Does the last moment comes in first or after comma?


texts:
I am trying to find a verb which can be used to indicate that someone is acting pedantic.

I first considered "pedanticise", but, having found only one source for this, I thought I'd broach the question here.

Edit: To clarify, I am defining pedantic to mean:

  excessively concerned with minor details or rules; overscrupulous. -- Google

Or:

  overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching. -- Dictionary.com

An example of this word used in a sentence would be, "Because Ellie spent the whole day ____ing over the grammar choices in her emails, she didn't get any work done!"


texts: What are the limits of the prefix 'step' to describe relationships?

texts:
Is my mother's step-father, my step-grandfather?  To what extent is it usual to extend the prefix 'step'?

Can we speak of 'step-cousins', step-aunts and step-uncles etc? If we can it must make for considerable complication in how such relationships are defined.


texts: Several dependent clauses connected with "or"

texts:
my problem sentence is the following:

  After completion, or due to termination, the car picks up the crew
  members and flies them back to the moon.

I would like to make those commas as I put them above. I just can't figure out the rule for this.

My suggestions is that "after completion" and "due to termination" are adverbial clauses. Adverbial clauses are dependent clauses working as an adverb. "After" or "due to" are the subordinating conjunctions that begin the adverbial clause. An dependent clause, or in this case, an adverbial clause at the beginning of the sentence is seperated by a comma.

However, I need to clarify why there is no subject in the adverbial (i.e., dependent) clause: is it omitted? Also, there is no verb in the adverbial clause. There is a subordinating conjunction and a noun?

The other question is why I need to seperate the two adverbial clauses with commas.

Thank you very much for any answer!


texts: present/past tense in a subordinate clause

texts:
A few days back I asked a question about whether a present tense verb in a subordinate clause can be followed by a past tense verb in the main clause.
A veteran grammarian (Andrew Leach) says yes, it is possible to have present tense in a subordinate clause and a past tense in a main clause.

So by this logic one can say the sentences like:

  A year back there was a rumor that Citibank is in a debt.
  A family was celebrating a wedding when somehow a rumor spread that the bride is feeling hungry.

Obviously, with

  Yesterday, John expressed that he likes ice cream.

there is no problem: this sentence is absolutely correct.

Andrew says that present tense in a subordinate clause can be used even if there is a past tense in the main clause. So again by this logic one can say the sentence

  Yesterday, John said that he is hungry.

Is this correct?


texts: What is the meaning of the idiom "Like the Nation"?

texts:
In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  there are several curious references to "the nation". For example, in chapter 22:

  And at last, sure enough, [...] the horse broke loose, and away he went like the very nation, round and round the ring...

Next, in chapter, 23:

  "But dis one do SMELL so like de nation, Huck."

There are also different uses of "the nation" in the book, for example in chapter 2:

  but how in the nation are these fellows going to be ransomed if we don't know how to do it to them?

The last use is more common in the book, and does make more sense - "the nation" seems to refer to a large area, similar to the modern "how in the world" or "how on earth".

I can't really figure out the first two though - in both cases "the nation" seems to refer to something negative...
What is the meaning of this idiom?

Note about the quotes - in all cases I have added the emphasis, and all the rest of the mistakes are [sic]. It is not an easy book to read.


texts: Progressive Form of Be and Lately in Present Continuous

texts:
Firstly, is the following sentence correct?

My brother is being unusually nervous lately.

If correct, how is being nervous behavior? We usually use the progressive of be to describe a behavior or an action, not states of the mind.
Secondly, I have read in both Longman and the Oxford dictionary that you use only present perfect with lately.
The attachment below is from Practical English Usage written by Michael Swan.


texts: A word that describes different forms of the same word

texts: Is there a word that describes all forms of a root word (not being the past tense or past participle form)? In the instant case, the root word is "compare" and one of the different forms is "comparatively". But I want to refer to all of the different forms that "compare" could take. Please help me.


texts: Is "My purse was stolen when I had been shopping" grammatical?

texts:
i) My purse was stolen when I was shopping.
ii) My purse was stolen when I had been shopping.

I thought that i) was grammatical and ii) ungrammatical. But yesterday I found the next sentence from Sword & Citadel: The Second Half of 'The Book of the New Sun'.

Then, quite unexpectedly, when I had been staring at them for a long time, the shape of a peryton seemed to spring out as distinctly as if the bird's whole body had been powdered with the dust ground from diamond.

Then, is ii too grammatical?


texts: Should you always use the accent in foreign words like "résumé"?

texts:
You can see in the aboutCV page of Stackoverflow Careers site that the word resumes is mentioned — not résumés or résumés.

What should be the common practice here?
What about other words like café?


texts: How to phrase a worldwide location in English?

texts:
I have an online form where a user would usually submit a specific location in a field, e.g. Moscow, Berlin, New York, Paris. But sometimes there is no specific city location, for instance for a seminar that takes place "online" or a web screening.

I want to enable the users to enter the "worldwide" case. What are typical phrases in English for that to catch? Planet, www, online, internet, worldwide, anywhere. Can you imagine up more suitable candidates? Are you aware of any existing English geo-databases with entries for the worldwide location case?


texts: Which one is correct? 'who' or 'that' in this adjective clause?

texts:
Which one is correct?

  He was so angry that didn't let me talk to him.

or

  He was so angry who didn't let me talk to him.

I believe that the first sentence is correct, because before "that" we have "angry", not a human.
Is that correct?

If using "who" is incorrect, please answer the question below.

If we break the above sentence into 2 sentences, that/who replaces "he" that is human. what happens now? shouldn't i use "who" instead of "that"?

  He was so angry.
  He didn't let me talk to him.

Just to remind, i know the pronoun "that" can also be used for human.
I just want to make sure if using "who" is possible or not.


texts: Can you explain the  definition of free and bound base in term of morphology  and give me some examples. I do not understand


texts: Is the included sentence about party planning grammatically correct?

texts:
Is it correct to write the following?

Since you have asked me about the planning of a farewell party for your English teacher, I’m happy to help you with some suggestions.

Is there any way to improve the sentance?


texts: A person who has a hard time throwing away unnecessary things

texts:
What would we call a person who has a hard time throwing away unnecessary things, and, as a result, has a home cluttered with stuff?

This person is not just untidy. What causes the clutter is their urge to buy things they don't need and being unable to get rid of things they don't use.

I think there is an idiom for it. But a single noun or an adjective would do too.

Thank you!


texts: Which is correct: "I am drinking ice cream" or "I am eating ice cream"?

texts:
Assuming there is no material in ice cream to be chewed, which is the correct sentence?

I am drinking ice cream.
I am eating ice cream.


texts: What does "I'm sure you understand" mean? Is it rude?

texts:
This expression seems to be used even when the speaker does not expect the other person to agree with them.

What would the intention of the speaker be? Is the expression considered rude?


texts: Where did the phrase, "You did a bean," come from?

texts:
I grew up in Texas in the 60s.  My dad grew up in Waco and moved to New Jersey during World War II.  He contributed may German phrases to our lives.  My mom was born in central Texas, but her dad was a manager for Sherwin Williams, so they lived all over the South.

My mother has used the phrase as long as I can remember, "you did a bean!"  This meant that you did something really smart.  I remember my grandmother saying this, but I don't recall anyone else.  My mother is 95 and remembers hearing this when she was a girl.

I'd like to know if anyone has ever heard this, and what the origin of the phrase is.


texts:
Both /gɛt/ and /gɪt/ show up in the Wiktionary. The etymology strongly suggests that the pronunciation /gɛt/ is older.  What is the source of the pronunciation /gɪt/?  Is it confined to certain regions?

It does not seem to be coming from a regular sound change, as nobody says /pɪt/ for /pet/. On the other hand, it does affect "forget" (at least for me).


texts:
A defective verb is one that doesn't have all the usual forms, e.g. "give", "gives", "giving", "gave", "given" are forms of a non-defective verb.

I  had thought the only defective verbs in English are modal auxiliary verbs; thus:

  Today he can do that. (simple present)
  Yesterday he could do that. (simple past)
  Often he *has been able to do that.

English doesn't allow "He has could" or the like.
We speak of "being able" and not "canning", and we say

  "He will be able"
  instead of
  "He will can."
  (In the Carolinas however, it is perfectly standard to say "He might can do that.")

The words "spellbinding", "spellbound", and "spellbinder" appear to be standard but does one ever see the simple present form "spellbind", or the future "will spellbind", or even "spellbinding" as a part of a compound verb rather than as an adjective?

Should this be considered a defective verb or maybe not even a verb at all?

It seems odd that one of the missing verb forms is the one that would presumably be lemmatic.


texts:
Can anyone please tell me if there is any need to backshift the tense?

Here is the example:

  Yesterday, as a consultant I went to meet my friend Peter who has been found guilty of fraud. He claimed that he is/was not guilty of any fraud.

Can I use the 'simple present' too?


texts: What is it called when you modify an older work to be more acceptable to modern audiences?

texts:
Let's say you have a play that makes a bunch of short jokes. Someone goes to remove the short jokes so as to make it more acceptable to modern audiences. What is this called? (Generally, a word that means removing the parts of a work that are unacceptable by modern standards.)

I know that it would fall under censorship, but I need a word specific to this situation (censorship is too broad).


texts:
What is the relation and difference between the nouns consistence and consistency?

For example, which one should be used in the following sentence?

  Although he has passed the exam, he is suggested to take the next one,
  because they would like to test his consistence/consistency.


texts: What is the X here?--I'm on a X for time

texts: I'm trying to say I have "less time" these days. I heard my english teacher use a sentence like: "I'm on a crutch for time" and I understood from context that it means they lack time. But years later when I googled that, it's invalid. Is there a filler word that makes the sentence correct? I'm on a X for time. What X works to accurately represent that I lack time?


texts:
Compare the two phrases:

... at a much reduced price...

versus

... at a much-reduced price...

Is a hyphen required here or it's unnecessary?


texts: How should the end of a question be punctuated if the last word is an abbr.?

texts:
The question itself is an example, but it isn't the best example

Have you ever visited D.C.?

or

Have you ever visited D.C?

Both look wrong to me. The former has double punctuation, which is against the rules, at least most of the time. The latter doesn't have a period indicating that the C is an abbreviation.


texts: Using "literary present" with past perfect

texts:
It's standard for scholars in the humanities to write about the contents of a book in the present tense, but write about the factual details of the book or author in the past tense. My question has to do with using the literary present to speak about what a book says and in the same sentence write about an event that happened prior to the author writing the book.

So, take, for example, the following sentence written in the past tense:

  In his book, the author lamented the loss of the individual who had once been his closest friend.

When you write this sentence in literary present, does it become:

  In his book, the author laments the loss of the individual who had once been his closest friend.

Or:

  In his book, the author laments the loss of the individual who was once his closest friend.

?

In the first example, only the past tense "lamented" is converted to literary present, while the past perfect "had once been" remains the same. The problem here is that I was taught the past perfect is only used with the past tense. However, even in literary present, it's understood that "laments" refers to an action in the past. So, are both sentences grammatical?

Off the bat, neither of them strikes me as unnatural sounding, and both seem clear.

EDIT:

I dug up this example from Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, which seems to match 1). And who am I to challenge Russell's grammar?

  In this passage Hobbes shows an old-fashioned rationalism. Kepler had arrived at a general proposition.


texts: When I heard the phrase: "Sorry to keep you waiting" [sɔri tə kip jʊ weɪdɪŋ] in an American movie it sounded to me that: Sorry, keep, and waiting are the stressed words. I may be wrong because I'm not a native speaker. I'm not sure about the degree of the stress. I'm curious when you pronounce the phrase above as a native speaker which words do you stress more. I know stress depends on the context, but let's say the context here is the most common way to say it, for example someone left a room and returns after a certain time. Any suggestion would be appreciated.


texts: Do “here” and “hear” have the same phonetic transcription in the same country?

texts:
Is there any accent that makes a distinction when pronuncing “here” and “hear”?

From Wiktionary:

Here

(UK) /hɪə(ɹ)/
(US) /hɪɹ/

Hear

(UK) /hɪə(ɹ)/
(US) IPA: /hiːɹ/

So, according to that, US accent pronounce in a different way “hear” and “here”.

According to Dictionary.com, hear and here are pronunced /hɪər/, and according to updn.com, both are /hɪr/ /hɪr/.

Having in consideration that Wiktionary can be edited by anyone, is there any place in the world that makes a difference when pronuncing these words?


texts: what does "Never far from the surface"mean?

texts:
i see this phrase in this sentence:Never far from the surface, a dark, dystopian view of artificial intelligence (AI) has returned to the headlines, thanks to British physicist Stephen Hawking.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-artificial-intelligence-hawkings-fears-stir-debate-2014-12#ixzz3LELE6nfQ


texts: What do you call a mixture of 2 herbal drinks? For example, butterfly pea extract and pandanus juice.


texts: About a consonant between 2 vowels, "/ˈteɪ·lər/" or "/ˈteɪl·ər/"?

texts:
I found this rule in dictionary.

If a consonant is between 2 vowels, then a delimiter is put after the consonant if the previous vowel is strong & but a delimiter is not put after the consonant if the following vowel is strong.

Ex: Lemon /ˈlem.ən/ (see the delimiter be put after /m/) (Source)

But Delicious /dɪˈlɪʃ.əs/ (Source) & we don't have /dɪl.ˈɪʃ.əs/

But Tailor /ˈteɪ·lər/ does not apply that rule because it has a diphthong /eɪ/  Source

But if you hear Tailor in Source, you will find it sounds like /ˈteɪl·ər/

So pronounce it as "/ˈteɪ·lər/" (hear the sound at Source) or "/ˈteɪl·ər/" (hear the sound at Source)?


texts:
Actual sentence:

"You're going to get an exam so simple that anyone can pass it."
"You're going to get an exam so simple anyone can pass it."

How about this:

"You're going to get an exam that simple anyone can pass it."

Does the sentence make sense?


texts: What is the part of speech for "where" in these two cases?

texts:
I'm aware that "where" is usually an adverb, but I'm a bit confused as to cases like this:

  This is where I went to school.

Is it still an adverb here? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance.


texts: still *"getting published", "being published", or just "published"?

texts:
Which is correct and why?

a) The New York Times is a daily American newspaper founded on September 18, 1851, and is still getting published in New York City.

b) The New York Times is a daily American newspaper founded on September 18, 1851, and is still being published in New York City.

c) The New York Times is a daily American newspaper founded on September 18, 1851, and is still published in New York City.


texts:
I'm familiar with the convention that square brackets may be used within quoted text to indicate word[s] that aren't actually present [in that exact form] in the original. It's often necessary where the original uses a pronoun, but you want your citation to identify the context-specific proper noun, for example.

My question here includes the closely related usage whereby the square brackets indicate optional [additional] text. I'm familiar with this convention in the context of programming syntax, where dir [Drive:][Path][FileName] means that any or all of the elements Drive, Path, Filename can be omitted.

But I was a bit confused by a recent ELU answer using square brackets to indicate that a lowercase letter in the original text had been changed to uppercase...

  [D]uctility is a solid material's ability to deform under tensile stress

My natural inclination was to see the [D] as indicating an optional letter (i.e. - the word could be written as either ductile or uctile). So what I want to know is:

  Is the square brackets = case change convention [still] valid, and if so is it under threat from the [later?] square brackets = optional material convention?


texts: Is ''I never thought I/you would'' idiomatic?

texts:
Like : I never thought I would be intimidated by you. even though I can understand it ( I'm being intimidated by you or you intimidated me and I never thought about you intimidating me ). Would here is not subjunctive/conditional/ or past right?, so that's what we call Idiomatic english ''would'' here is just to complete the sentence? like here too ''I never thought you would do that''( you did something and I never thought about you doing that something).

I can't place would in any tense here.


texts: What's a better replacement for the word "enemy"?

texts:
What's a better replacement for the word enemy? I'm not simply looking for a synonym, I'm looking for one that fits this context:

  When you don't know how to use your firearm, you could essentially become the attacker.

My superior has been slightly vague, saying he'd like the word attacker changed to something else, as it doesn't "sound right." (His suggestion was, 'You become the danger', but in my opinion that's not much better.)

The synonyms I found for attacker didn't fit very well, so I'm trying to find another way to express this thought.


texts: "Needs closed", "needs resolved", "needs done"... I have never seen this before and it sounds totally incorrect, grammatically speaking. However, I have been hearing this so often, at work and even in written work documentation, that I am starting to doubt that I am right about this not being correct. Could anyone please help with that? Thank you.


texts: What does it mean for something to be "inter-ethnic?"

texts:
Does inter-ethnic refer to things that are between different ethnic groups, or within one ethnic group?

If it refers to things that are between different ethnic groups, what word would be used to refer to things that are within one ethnic group?


texts: Word for person who can't remember paths?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Term for person who forgets directions or routes
  Is there a specific word for describing a person who gets lost easily?

What to call a person who can't remember paths and roads?


texts: "We are committed to continually investing in ourselves" or "We are committed to continually invest in ourselves"?

texts: Which is correct? Also why? For some reason the continually is throwing me off here. Thanks.


texts: What preposition should I use when using two verbs

texts:
We use the preposition 'to' with the verb add, and 'from' with the verb remove, example:

You need to add a product to your shopping cart.
You need to remove a product from your shopping cart.

Now if I combined add and remove, what preposition should I use for them, example:

To add or remove a product to your shopping cart, hover the mouse over the product.
Add/remove a product from your shopping cart before payment.

Update

There is a Persian saying that translate to :

  The easiest way to solve a problem is to eliminate the definition of the problem.

I am not asking for a different way to phrase this sentence, what I am asking is if there is a rule to pick a proposition, something like:

Use to, the preposition associated with the first verb
User from, the preposition associated with the second verb
User to and from


texts: Many novels consist of dialog - and the other part, the part that is not dialog. What do you call the part of a novel that is not dialog?


texts:
In E. L. Doctorow's Book of Daniel I read the following sentence:

  The state police brought Susan in off the turnpike and that makes her a public charge.

Susan is an inmate of a mental institution in 1967 and the person, who says this (her brother) seems to be a hippie.

What does off the turnpike mean (what did Susan do before the state police brought her into the asylum) ?

Update 1 (22.05.2015 15:46 MSK):

Later in the book I read

  Why do two state cops, finding a young girl bleeding to death in the ladies' room of a Howard Johnson's take her not to the nearest hospital, but to the nearest public insane asylum?

Howard Johnson's is probably a motel, which is located near a toll road (turnpike).


texts: We use the present simple for scheduled events in the near future such as " I have an appointment next week".   Why , then, is "My friend will pick you up at 4:00"  the way we say it.  Why isn't  "My friend picks you up at 4:00"  correct? Isn't this also a scheduled event in the near future?


texts:
I was thinking about the definitions of these two words:

Majority: having more than anything else combined in a particular dataset. In other words, greater than 50 percent of the whole.
Plurality: having the greatest amount relative to anything else in a dataset.

Because a majority has the greatest amount (it is number one in terms of ordering), that seems to make it a plurality. So, is a majority also a plurality because a majority has the greatest amount of something.
Note: Wikipedia says It is also a plurality, which is defined as one group being greater than any other in the set. I'd assume it is, but I just want to make sure.


texts: Is it correct to refer to two different sources using "this" and "this"? If false what synonyms could be used?

texts:
Is the following decent English:

  Based on sources like this and this the following code was created:

If it is correct English? What kind of synonym could be used in this context?


texts: Word for describing something that causes seizures?

texts: Is there a word or phrase that describes an object that would cause an epileptic seizure?  In a similar way that something that causes an allergy attack is an allergen  For example, the flashing lights in the game were _____.  The closest thing I can think of is possibly "triggering" but that isn't very specific.


texts:
In a discussion, Person A expresses his view that he finds it irritating that some immigrants in the US could barely speak English even after coming to the country for 15 years. Person B then responds:

  Agreed. Here people move into areas that cater to their home language, street signs aren't in English, store signs aren't in English.. the people they live with don't speak it, the people they hang out with don't speak it.. they NEVER actually get put into a situation where they NEED to know English.. IN FUCKING CANADA. Seriously. If I'm going to travel, I at least pick up a few basics instead of just assuming everyone will cater to me.

What does pick up mean above? I'm assuming it means to learn? but I just wanted to make sure if that's what it means precisely.


texts: What is the meaning of 'catharsis' in a tragedy?

texts:
First of all, I'm aware of the Greek origin of the word. I have looked this word up in a dozen different dictionaries but I still don't quite understand what a catharsis is.  A definition:

Originating from ancient Greece, the word "catharsis" refers to the emotional outpouring of a character. Often, when a character in a tragedy realizes his/her flaws or downfall, a cathartic speech is delivered.

In other definitions it also says that the audience also experiences this, but I don't understand at all what is meant by this. The above definition reminds me of an epiphany, but I don't see at all why the audience would experience this too, since the flaws of a character are usually known by the audience from the start. Can someone clear up my confusion regarding this subject?


texts:
In a recent tweet, a former Democratic ethics adviser had some less than flattering comments for the current president (as is the norm in Washington.) When discussing the investigation, he said,

  Kushner, Donnie Jr. and the rest of the Trump crime family better keep their overnight bags handy. Pack shoes with no laces guys.

What does it mean to pack shoes with no laces, and what is the implication here? It must be some colloquial phrase, but exactly what it implies I don't understand.


texts:
I was wondering about the correct usage of the term "glad". It seems to me it can be used (at least) in two different ways: "to be glad of something" or "to be glad about something", indeed I found both of them in some online dictionaries. But I cannot really understand what is the difference (if there is any), or if one of the two is more correct than the other.

Thank you very much for your help!


texts: What are some products that are now words?

texts:
All of the ones I can think of are specific products that have come to represent their kind. This is usually either because it is the first of its kind, as in a Xerox machine (the first office photocopier), or it arises from popularity, as in Sharpie or something like "Google that" (though I'd say that's a bit informal/debatable).

Other examples I can think of off the top of my head are:

Kleenex
Post-it


texts:
Is unforecasted correct English? Or should one use unexpected or some other form?

The relevant sentence would be :
Parties short longevity are financially hurt by unforecasted increases in life expectancy


texts: Is there a name for the abbreviated syntax used in signs etc?

texts:
For instance, a train sign might say South bound trains this platform rather than Use this platform to take a Southbound train.

There is an interesting lack of articles and sometimes verbs, is there a name for this style (or a reason for it)?


texts:
What is the difference in meaning between "a witness to" and "a witness for"? E.g.,

  Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God...
  Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness of Jesus and for the word of God...

I am guessing that the preposition to refers to the witness standing outside the "event" observing the happenings, while of refers to the witness being inside the event, involved in it and witnessing from the inside.

Basically, to me, to and of depict the location of the witness in relation to observing the event. Is that the case?


texts:
Which is the correct way to hyphenate the following message: the hotel in question is, among all the hotels in Dehli with the same 4-star rating, second best.

  This is the second-highest-rated 4-star hotel in Dehli.

or

  This is the second-highest rated 4-star hotel in Dehli.

or something else?


texts:
What does 's stand for in "America's got talent"?

Does it stand for HAS? --> "America has got talent." Is this 's necessary? Is it incorrect to say "America got talent"? For example, ABC is a school name, and it wants to hold a talent show. "ABC got talent." Is it incorrect?


texts: Source of the cliche "[these] diminished times"?

texts:
I believe the phrase "diminished times" is a common expression or cliche, maybe a quotation, but I haven't been able to find the source. Is it a cliche, and where does it come from?

P.S. After @aparente001 posted his or her answer, I found this example from a 5/11/2000 post by Andrew McLaren to the newsgroup uk.culture.language.english:

  Even in these diminished times, Brazil produces something like 2/3s of the world's coffee, [down] from 80% a few decades ago.


texts:
The only events worth noting in his material career are his
  installation at Toulouse at the age of 30 (14 May 1631), as
  commissioner of requests;

  from Eric Temple Bell's Men of Mathematics

The sentence is about Fermat (A mathematician). Does material career mean "Non-Spiritual" , "Non-Mathematics" or "earthly" ?


texts:
Which ones are correct?

Heavens Door and Hells Door are an amazing job done by the same author
Heavens Door and Hells Door are amazing jobs done by the same author
Heavens Door and Hells Door are a good job done by the same author
Heavens Door and Hells Door are good jobs done by the same author


texts: "What kind of a person" vs. "what kind of person"

texts:
I often hear people saying what kind of [singular noun] rather than what kind of a [singular noun].

Are we not supposed to use an article (a) before noun?


texts:
I am reading an article, but a sentence confuses me.

  On one side, novels and films are opposed as “words” and “images,” agreed to be irreducible, untranslatable, a priori entities by most postmodern as well as prior scholars.

Here, what does "a priori" mean? I know what is "A Priori and A Posteriori," but in this sentence the meaning that I know does not make sense!


texts: What are roach motels (the insect trap) called in Australian English?

texts: In Australian English, what are the insect trap known as "roach motels" called? Wiktionary and Wikipedia (also this link) don't mention what it's called in Australian English.


texts:
In the following sentence, which is more appropriate — I or me, and why?

  Sending separate mails will look more genuine than me/I writing on behalf of everyone.


texts: Where did "a racist bone in [one's] body" and "a mean bone in [one's] body" come from?

texts:
A recent tweet by the U.S. president includes this assurance:

I don't have a Racist bone in my body!

A blog post by David Graham, "The One Color the White House Sees Clearly" at The Atlantic Online offers this commentary on the history of the expression "doesn't have a racist bone in [one's] body":

As Christopher Petrella and Justin Gomer wrote in an April Washington Post essay on the history of “racist bones,” the phrase gained currency during the Ronald Reagan administration. When confronted about the racial impacts of its policies, the White House would simply insist it didn’t see color; the policies were intended to affect everyone the same.

Reagan's presidency began in January 1981, but the earliest match for not having "a racist bone in [one's] body" that an Elephind newspaper database search finds is from eight years before that, from Fr. Lawrence E. Lucas, "Giving Thanks," in the Pittsburgh Catholic (December 1, 1972):

It’s thanking the Lord for those good concerned whites who do not have a racist bone in their bodies, who live next door to a black family (the only one in the neighborhood) and who have a close colored friend: the same ones standing in line ready to do violence to prevent a housing project that might attract blacks or blocking the way of young black children in "their school."

The usage here is sarcastic and suggests that the author has heard the expression more than once from or on behalf of people whose claimed lack of racist bones he strongly doubts.
I suspect that not having "a racist bone in [one's] body" is an offshoot of the older expression about not having "a mean bone in [one's] body." The earliest Elephind match for that expression is from Donald Cameron, "Meanness," in the [Hay, New South Wales] Riverine Grazier (April 5, 1884):

The youth whom I will call Brown was known in the town as a firt-rate fellow, free and generous, sociable and ready to share whatever he had with his friends and acquaintances. People would say, "What a fine, free young chap Brown is; not a mean bone in his body. What a contrast to Smith."

Interestingly, "mean" in this instance has the sense "stingy" or "miserly," not "cruel" or "hurtful."
My questions are as follows:

When, where, and in what context did "racist bone in [one's] body" first appear in print?

When, where, and in what context did "mean bone in [one's] body" first appear in print?

Are these two expressions related to an even earlier "[adjective] bone" that was used in a similar way, or is "mean bone" the first of its kind?

Update (July 17. 2019)
To this point, site participants have noted the following earliest documented occurrences of longstanding members of the "not a [modifier] bone in [one's] body" family:

"not a lazy bone in his body": 1826
"not a selfish bone": 1836
"not ... a mean bone": 1858
"not a jealous bone": 1882
"hasn't an artistic bone" 1923
"ain't a racist bone": 1967

Evidently, the "racist bone" is a latecomer to an old and fairly numerous family.


texts: Does there exist an EBNF-like description of English?

texts:
In programming, languages are often specified by what's called an EBNF grammar, a recursive way of specifying the language's structure. For example, all super simple arithmetic operations using the digits 1-5 can be expressed as

  OP = (OP)
  OP = OP + OP
  OP = OP - OP
  OP = OP * OP
  OP = 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

I was wondering if anyone has attempted a similar description of English or a subset thereof (anything one could wrangle into a computer). For example, I'm sure regular verb conjugation can be thrown into this format, but what about more complex examples? Is there a mathematical proof that one cannot capture the full complexity of English in a finite EBNF grammar?

I am certain this is a complicated question in linguistics, possibly even the holy grail, but I would appreciate any pointers on where to look further!


texts: Name of each item when comparing two things

texts:
I am thinking specifically of comparing two files using diff in linux or git (for those of you familiar with it), but this relates, I think, to any comparison.

I have two files.  File 1 and File 2.  File 1 is the older, original file - the one that is the base of comparison.  File 2 is the 'draft' file - the one that will be compared against File 1 to assert differences, in this case additions or reductions in lines of text.

I want to compare them - how can I refer to each file?

My ideas:

File 1: comparer, original, base, original, current, active
File 2: comparee, draft, new

Is there an agreed upon naming convention for this scenario?


texts: What is the proper expression of anglewise comparison?

texts:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, so please correct me if I should post it somewhere else.
I compare my data, along the angle. That is, I collect data in 10-20, 20-30, 30-40 ... degrees, and in each sector I compare the data with my model.
I say this is anglewise comparison, but I'm not sure this is the right way to express it.

Context:
I have data distributed in this manner.

And I made a model for the data. I want to compare the model and data by direction. That is, collect the data in 15-35 degrees, 35-55 degress, and compare the data and the model like this:

The histogram is the data binned in that direction, and the black curve is the model. How should I name this comparison?
Sectoral comparison? Directional comparison?


texts: Use "underway" or "under way" as an adverb?

texts:
Is it proper to use underway as an adverb? Or should under way be used?

Merriam-Webster defines underway as an adjective and under way as an adverb.
The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus makes no distinction.

I think this might be a split between British English and American English. Or at least using underway as an adverb is becoming more popular.


texts:
I write and post a lot of scripture, and often times will put the tilde at the beginning of the verse, with the reference in brackets at the end.  I guess I started doing it simply because I like the looks of it.   But, am wondering now if I'm committing some egregious error in doing so.

Thanks much, I appreciate your time and feedback for consideration.
;j


texts: Sentence in which "its" and "it's" can be interchanged without changing the meaning?

texts:
A friend posed the following word puzzle to me:

  Can you think of a sentence that keeps the same meaning whether you use "it's" or "its"?

He asserted that this puzzle does in fact have a solution. However, it has me completely stumped. I tried to solve an easier problem, to find a sentence which is still grammatical if you change an "its" to "it's", but all I could come up with is examples like "It's light!" (which is, strictly, more of a sentence fragment).

What is the solution to the word puzzle? Or, is there some way I can "prove" that the puzzle should have no solution?


texts: What is the reason or proper usage of "price" and "pricing"?

texts:
Here are my examples:

We need to change the price of this item.
We need to change the pricing of this item.

To me the second option feels right but why?


texts: Is there a general word/phrase for bias against a group?

texts:
I think prejudice is too general.
The definition Google gives me for prejudice is:
"preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience."
 - it doesn't specify that this preconceived opinion is due to membership in some group (or, more specifically, perceived membership in a group), although it seems to have that connotation, so maybe that is what I should go with.

I think bigotry is too strong.
For bigotry, we have (wikipedia): "Bigotry is a state of mind where a person strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc. "

Bigotry sort of connotes hatred, not just bias.

I want a way to describe the fact that a particular statement reveals an attitude that is unfairly biased against a culturally significant group, which may or may not be intentional or malicious.