texts:
Would one say:

The sewer pipelines are old and need to be replaced. or ...

The sewerage pipelines are old need o be replaced

additionally:

The sewer infrastructure ...

The sewerage infrastructure

any help?


texts: Wish someone 'good luck' for an operation

texts: What is a good way of wishing someone 'good luck' for an operation? The words 'good luck' don't sound right, especially because it is a very difficult operation with lots of severe risks.


texts: What does it mean to be in a "complete" muddle?

texts:
People talk of a complete mess, a complete failure, a complete success, a complete misunderstanding...etc.

What do they mean by complete? In what sense can a failure, a sense of inferiority, a swindle, etc., indeed, anything other than things like jig-saw puzzles which have a specific number of pieces, be said to be complete?


texts:
I quote:

  Two men huddled in the stern, and distances were so magnificent in the dinghy that the rower was enabled to keep his feet partly warmed by thrusting them under his companions.

The situation: Four shipwrecked men in a tiny boat in troubled waters - from which I gather that 'magnificent' here is used contradictory i.e. ironically. Could sb please confirm (or object)?


texts: Difference between the use of "supplier", "vendor", "provider"

texts: Which is the difference between the use of supplier, vendor, provider? The way I see it, they are complete synonyms. Am I right?


texts: why is it okay to use "is" in front of "interested"

texts:
Is it grammatically right to say: "If he is interested in the project, he will ask you many questions"

It sounds alright to me and I noticed this uses future simple tense, however, I'm curious to know why it is acceptable to use the word is before the past tense word interested


texts:
I've seen the word "burninate" used around the internet a bit, most recently in this MetaSO answer. The basic meaning of it seems fairly clear, but where did this come from? An online dictionary searched yielded no results, as did etymonline. A wikipedia search redirected to an article, but searching the document only found the word where it indicated the search had redirected to that page, and no other mentions of it in the article.

Can someone please explain where this word came from?


texts:
I am a little bit confused after I found out that "e.g." is followed by a comma in American English. My confusion stems from the correct placement of this abbreviation. Consider the following sentence:

  Usually, these entities are both represented in the source language,
  e.g., as modules or top-level declarations, and easy to distinguish
  from each other by the user and the compiler, e.g., as separate
  files or directories.

When reading this sentence, I stumble upon the commas after the "e.g."s. I could understand it if the sentence was:

  Usually, these entities are both represented in the source language,
  as, e.g., modules or top-level declarations, and easy to distinguish
  from each other by the user and the compiler, as, e.g., separate
  files or directories.

The second version reads somewhat slower, there is more emphasis on the ".e.g." as I would like and the meaning of the second "as" might be confused to relate to the "compiler".

Is the first form correct? If so, I wonder what purpose the commas serve? Is the second version different in meaning from the first, or am I reading it wrong?


texts: What is a word for someone who wants to be the best at everything they do?

texts: I'd like to find a word to describe someone who, in no matter what situation, wants to be the best. Even if the topic is something negative (such as being told he is insane) he will want to be considered the best at displaying that negative trait (he would want to be the most insane person around).


texts:
I've been looking for a word all day with a very specific definition, It is very similar to a misnomer, yet intentional and usually through unreality to describe something humorously, E.g. "Horse tornado" as a word for carousel or "Cold house" as a word for fridge.
This is a very specific word. The closest I've come is misnomer, or something similar to the opposite of folk etymology, But I'm not able to find anything more specific due to horrendous google search results


texts: What is a word to describe a person that loves all things paper?

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a person that ... loves all things paper; the best stationery, journals, handmade paper, expensive wrapping paper, etc.
The kind of person who travels to other countries to visit stationery stores.


texts: I would like to have an antonym of to request. A computer process requests a resource and when the resource is assigned to the process, the process does not request the resource anymore, since it is assigned. So I need a word to express this undo mechanism. Any ideas?


texts: Why do we use "muscle/joint pain" in the singular in drug leaflets?

texts:
All drug leaflets list possible side effects of using the drug. Whenever muscle or joint pain is a possible side effect, it is listed in the singular (both muscle and pain), when it is generalized such that no specific muscle or joint is concerned (in many cases it is impossible to predict which muscle or joint will hurt, if any).

So why is it in the singular? Why not "muscles pain" or "muscles pains", which (ostensibly) includes the possibility of several different muscles hurting as a result of the drug?

My mother tongue is Hebrew, and in Hebrew we do say it in the plural, i.e. "muscles pains", Hence the question (I'm not suggesting that Hebrew and English should work the same, just wondering about the English form).


texts: What is the meaning of "the green and blue of the crops"?

texts:
I'm reading the My mother never worked essay by Bonnie Smith-Yackel.

  In the other fields, when the oats and flax began to head out, the green and blue of the crops were hidden by the bright yellow of wild mustard.

What does this sentence mean?


texts:
What does "carry't" mean? I can't find a definition for it on the web.
Here's an example of its use from Shakespeare's Othello, the Moor of Venice:

What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe
If he can carry't thus.


texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase, if there is one, that is similar to the phrase "spectrum of colours" or "array of colours" something to describe the fact that there are several different colours from all over the spectrum of colours.

I'm using it in a sentence akin to "The light glinted off of the something glass" the sentence can be reworked as long as the describer works for me I don't mind.


texts:
I'm writing a fantasy story and I have a wizard in it. His name's Brad, and I'm wondering how a magical figure like him should be addressed. Mr. Brad seems a little lackluster, and Sir Brad wouldn't make sense, since he's not a knight.
To clarify, I'm looking for a title that pertains to wizards that I can put in front of Brad's name, like Sir Brad. Here's an example:

"Ah, Mr. Brad, you're looking well today," Bob said.
"That's (wizard term) Brad to you," he replied tartly.


texts:
I am looking for a noun to describe a person who embodies the philosophical concept of inauthenticity and Sartre-ean bad faith. This would be someone whose public image does not reflect their core beliefs and values, for the reasons of opportunism or because they have none.

In my native language (Serbo-Croatian-Bosnian), the word is poltron and the English cognate thereof seems to be "poltroon" but the broad meaning (coward) seems to lack the specificity it has in my language, i.e. the connotation of inauthenticity, value betrayal, and opportunism. Another word that comes to mind is "conformist" but that also doesn't seem specific enough.


texts:
I often find a joke titled, ‘When a grandma goes to court’ followed by the line, ‘Lawyers should never ask a question if they aren’t prepared for the answer.’

I don’t know if it’s a popular joke or not. It deals with an elderly woman called to the stand as the first witness. She knows everything about the background and secrets of both prosecuting and defense attorneys.

Realizing that she knows too much, the judge asks both attorneys to come to the bench and tells, “If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I’ll send you both to the electric chair.”

In this joke, the old woman says to the prosecuting attorney, "You think you are some big shot on the rise, but you don't have the brains to realize you are nothing more than a 'two-bit paper pusher.' Yes sir, I know you!"

What does “two-bit paper pusher” mean?


texts:
I am editing an article by a non-native speaker who is using the expressions:

  1. what is to be learned

meaning the things that the students are expected to learn or that which is to be learned

  2. what is possible to learn

meaning those things which it is possible for a student to learn in a particular situation

  3. what is made possible to learn

in the following sense: the teacher (or circumstances) make it possible for the student to learn X so X is "what is made possible to learn"

The first of these phrases seems grammatically correct to me, even though it is a bit awkward.

The second two phrases sound wrong to me but I am having difficulty analysing exactly why they don't work (particularly in the case of "what is made possible to learn".

The main problem seem to be that one can't say "X is possible to learn": that we need to say "it is possible to learn X", so "what it is possible to learn" would probably be better. But I suspect there is another problem with the third sentence - I just can't put my finger on.

I would really appreciate if someone could help me to understand exactly what the problem is with these constructions and, if possible, suggest an alternative.


texts: "is bad about" idiom/phrase can be either a negative or positive assertion?

texts:
I was chatting with a friend who is a proficient but non-native speaker of English, and a misunderstanding came up about my usage of a phrase of the form "<something> is bad about <doing something bad>", with the intended meaning that the thing in question commonly does the bad thing. e.g. "Willow trees are bad about causing damage to water lines".
My friend's point was that doesn't make sense, because if they are bad about doing that, that logically means they don't do it. So I got to looking/searching/thinking, and it seems like there are examples of either case, where that form of phrase could mean that a thing commonly happens, or a thing commonly doesn't happen.
For example, "They are bad about brushing their teeth" vs. "They are bad about not brushing their teeth". In my mind, both phrases mean the same thing - that they don't commonly brush their teeth.
Does the meaning of the phrase depend on whether the action/effect is perceived to be good or bad? So either a thing perceived as good doesn't commonly happen, or a thing perceived as bad commonly does happen?
Or I guess maybe another way to look at it is that the phrase is always used in the sense that has the negative connotation?

A few other examples of similar phrases, for reference.

Women, too, are bad about prying into the affairs of men.

Conversation with the High Priest of Coosa, Charles M. Hudson, page 7, books.google.com

Human eyes are bad about misjudging tall objects.

Shotgunning: The Art and the Science, Bob Brister, page 136,
books.google.com

I don't eat the pears off that tree because they are bad about having body hair in them.

Stories by Charlie: Mtn. View Arkansas, Charles E. Forte, page 62, books.google.com


texts: Is a pluralized proper noun (Russias) the grammatical plural of that proper noun (Russia)?

texts:
Is "Russias" the plural of "Russia", in the sense that this is how they relate grammatically?

The reason that I suspect that they are not plural-singular is the following example.

[1] I see the egg.
[2] I see the eggs.
[3] I see an egg.
[4] I see egg.

[a] I see the Russia.
[b] I see the Russias.
[c] I see a Russia.
[d] I see Russia.

It seems to me that [4] and [d] differ semantically.


texts:
I got that words from novel. I've been looking for the meaning but still can't get what it means. Is that kind of slang?

"Hi, Mr.Tushman! I see you're running a little behind today! Did your car get rear-ended again? What a bum rap!"


texts: Term for appending "-esque" or "-ish" to a a word to form an adjective

texts:
What is the name of the term for when someone transforms a noun into an adjective by appending -esque or -ish to the end of the noun? I see this in cases where an appropriate adjective doesn't readily come to mind or the word itself is somewhat esoteric.

For example, when a colleague was trying to differentiate between the tastes of a food, he said the food tasted "capsaicin-ish" to describe the "piquantness" as opposed to the flavor (spice) or physical temperature (heat) of the dish.

Another example was when a friend had a sore throat, and a deep voice as a result. We noted he sounded very "Batman-esque".

Is there an official term this transform?

Thanks!


texts: In the US I heard "Looking good!" being used by spectators to encourage disabled participants of a race. What does it actually mean? In this context it can't possibly be a comment on their appearance as is suggested in the answers I read about the meaning of "looking good".


texts:
What is the idiomatic meaning of turn and talk? For example:

  I turn and talk like a man leaving charges before a journey.


texts:
Is there a word which describes the strength of an adjective within an ordered set?

For example, these words describe “quality” in ascending order of their “power”:

good
great
fantastic

Is there a name for a set like this or a tool, similar to a thesaurus, that could be used to identify such a set?

Background information: I asked a question on UX StackExchange regarding naming different levels of system stability. I was looking for confirmation that the ordering of Operational, Temperamental, Unstable, Critical, Dire was appropriate when it struck me that there must be a name to describe the relationship between these words.


texts: What is the part of speech for words suffixed with "ity"?

texts:
This may be a dumb question, but I am bad at grammar (software engineer).

Example: practical becomes practicality, equal becomes equality

The dictionary calls them nouns, but nouns are defined as

  A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun).

What is confusing is that, by the above definition, the word practicality should be able to "identify any of a class of people, places, or things". So, what class of people, places, or things does "practicality" identify? What if people within that class aren't always practical?

What part of speech do these words fall into?

BONUS: is there such a version of the word empirical?


texts: What is the origin of the adjective "peaked" (pronounced "pea-ked"), meaning "tired" in American English?

texts:
I was watching the movie "In the Line of Fire" (1993) with Clint Eastwood and Rene Russo. In one of the scenes, Russo tells Eastwood, "you were looking a little pea-ked out there", meaning tired/fatigued/physically overwhelmed.

That's the only usage I've found of the term, and Google lists this as a North American usage. Where did it come from, and why is it pronounced that way?


texts: Why do people say “see you in the next video” in a video even thought I am the one who is going to see them?

texts:
I see this in many YouTube videos where the person says something like “and I’ll see you in the next one,” but I never understood what that actually means. To me, it sounds like it should be something like “and I hope you see my next video” or “and I hope you see me in my next video.”

Can someone please explain to me this form of sentence, what it actually means, and why it is used in that way?


texts:
I have the following sentence:

  He grabbed the Duke's shoulder and turned him to face him.

Without pronouns for disambiguation of the two occurrences of "him":

  Vigil grabbed the Duke's shoulder and turned the Duke to face Vigil.

Both of these contain very ugly repetition that I would prefer to avoid. I've tried all possible combinations of pronouns and proper names but I can't a solution that sounds right.

How could I restructure this sentence to avoid both the ambiguity of the first and the clumsy over-usage of proper names in the second?


texts: How did the phrase "are you nuts" come about?

texts: What is the connection between "nut" and the character? How was the phrase "are you nuts?" used at first?


texts: Is there any difference between "color" and "colour"?

texts: What is the difference between color and colour?


texts: Does "giggle" have childish connotations?

texts:
I'm pretty sure giggle does have childish connotations (it's associated with children), but my question is really; is it so associated with children that it would seem weird to a native speaker if giggle was used to describe an adult's laugh.

Allison giggled, "Definitely. It's very good."

Context: Someone just described a book in a somewhat funny way; there's romantic tension here.
So, does this word-choice feel jarring, considering Allison is a young adult?


texts:
As a non-native speaker but a teacher of the English language I've come across the following question reading a pupil's report: Should she use the simple past or past perfect in her sentence?

  Last week we came back from a class trip to New York. We planned (OR) had planned that trip half a year ago.
  (meaning: half a year before NOW)

Although we teach that ago is a signal word for simple past, I would go for past perfect here, since the action of the second sentence clearly takes place before the first one and before the rest of what the report is about (the class trip itself).

How would a native speaker put it?


texts: 'You know nothing OF THAT OF WHICH we speak'

texts:
'You know nothing of that of which we speak'.

I know the sentence is formal, verbose and arguably clumsy; however, I'd like to know whether 'of that of which' is grammatically correct.

Thanks.


texts: What does refering to someone as a "garden shed" mean?

texts:
http://youtu.be/a9GgU3hzGGw?t=1m54s
In the following video, a talk host watches an acting performance, and refers to the actor as a "garden shed".
I've never heard that expression before.  I am also not British.

I imagine it means someone who can do anything, though I can't find a source for it anywhere on the Internet.  Am I correct in this assumption?  Is this a commonly used expression in the United Kingdom?


texts:
What does "break character" mean in the following baseball context? (the quote is from a recent Associated Press sports newstory)

  The Japanese two-way player got the silent treatment from teammates when he returned to the dugout, but not from the crowd. After the players broke character and jumped around Ohtani to celebrate, Mike Trout pointed to the field and instructed Ohtani to take a curtain call.


texts:
I was drafting a mail to the IT Department of my university when this question hit me. Do I need for? If I don't actually need it, is it really wrong?

I request the necessary changes to be made
I request for the necessary changes to be made


texts: “What say we [suggestion (verb phrase)]”

texts:
I would like to understand the history of the modern expression “what say we” followed immediately by a verb phrase, used to make a suggestion and common in informal speech, as attested at Oxford Dictionaries

   What say we take a break?

used in publication

   “Gillette Raises Bar With Five Blade Razor”. What Say We Make It An Even Dozen.
   (Businessweek headline)

and found in song lyrics

   Baby, what say we stay together? (George Strait song “What Say”)
   What say we go and crash your car? (Brand New song “Failure By Design”)

I stopped to notice that this expression is not, strictly speaking, grammatical and seems to be a contraction. I became curious what it might be a contraction of. There is the slightly longer “whaddya say we [suggestion (verb phrase)]” which is an informal version of “what do you say we”. This is still not, strictly speaking, grammatical. But it seems akin to “what say you to [suggestion (noun phrase)]”, such as the Shakespeare quotation offered in comment by AndrewLeach

   What say you to a Neats foote?

which can equally be expressed as

   What do (or would) you say to a Neats foote?

But I have no idea if it is reasonable to connect the dots.


texts:
I am trying to make a person understand a theory. I do so by at
first, describing in lengthy depth the game of "peek-a-boo" and how
babies have no concept of the real world.
I then would like to bring the person back to how the person and I
are OBVIOUSLY far more intellectual than a baby so why would i even
compare us to a baby?

[imagine a long in-depth science text about babies and the game of peek-a-boo]

In conclusion. They genuinely believe the mother has left the physical plane of being. Thats why peek-a-boo game is so effective with babies.

A word or phrase to say:- its redundant to compare the two subjects

Now obviously its redundant for an adult to be compared to a newborn baby

OR

A needless endeavor to you and I, however, this fact is the fundamental understanding to this theory

OR

It might seem barren to to look at a newborn baby, in order to understand an abstract theory

TL;DR:-
a better way to say:-
"IT MIGHT SEEM POINTLESS TO COMPARE xyz TO 123" ##


texts: "Two yellow spots on its wings" vs "a yellow spot on both wings"

texts:
The bird has two yellow spots on its wings.

versus

The bird has a yellow spot on both wings.

Do they mean the same?

Which one describes more accurately the yellow spots of the following bird?

(Other alternatives are welcomed too).


texts: George "roots from" or "has roots in" the Campbell family: which is correct?

texts: Do we say "George roots from the Campbell family" or "George has roots in the Campbell family"?


texts: How to pronounce English names quickly and correctly

texts:
How can you pronounce a name quickly and correctly? They may or may not conform to regular patterns. Currently I'm using "online website" to do the speaking each time.

Are there any shortcuts that I can use?


texts:
When thinking about a submarine (or fish, or anything).  Is the object under the sea or in the sea. To my mind it is in the sea, as being under something suggests exactly that.

A boat can be said to be 'in the sea', but according to a lot of comments on another question here, that would mean that the boat has sunk beneath the surface of the water (not a good place for a boat to be!).


texts:
Which ones of the following could be correct:

  I am learning English because I will need it when I go abroad.

  I am learning English because I need it when I go abroad.

What I imply is that I am not abroad now but I am likely to go abroad in the future.

If both are correct, is there any difference in terms of meaning?


texts:
The expression to be taken aback is very common; a typical example sentence (that I just made up) would be

  I was taken aback by the way she laughed.

However, I sometimes find myself wanting to say this in the active voice:

  The way she laughed took me aback.

Something strikes me as not wrong, but decidedly nonstandard about this, but I don't know why. The set expression is X was taken aback by Y, which should be transformable by normal English grammar in to Y took X aback.

Searching in Google Books, I found 23,300 results for "took me aback" and 377,000 for "I was taken aback", which corroborates my intution that while both are grammatically possible, the active version seems less acceptable or at least less common in the register of written English.

So, my question:

Am I correct that "taken aback" is sort of nonstandard in the active?
If so, why? And are there any parallels to other expressions that are pretty much only ever used in the passive? I can't really think of any.


texts:
The verb "show" doesn't need any preposition. We show somebody something. So what does this structure mean:

  Show somebody to something

For example:

  They show me to a cent.

What I feel is it is an archaic form, conveys that the thing is a gift which be given to the first object. But I find no source which justifies my feeling.

Can anybody help?

This is the full stanza:

  I am satisfied—I see, dance, laugh, sing;

  As the hugging and loving bed-fellow sleeps at my side through the
  night, and withdraws at the peep of the day with stealthy tread,

  Leaving me baskets cover’d with white towels swelling the house with
  their plenty,

  Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my eyes,

  That they turn from gazing after and down the road,

  And forthwith cipher and show me to a cent,

  Exactly the value of one and exactly the value of two, and which is
  ahead?


texts: Is there a word for food that's gone 'bad', but is still edible?

texts:
Is there a word in the English language for food that has gone 'bad', but is still edible?

Some examples would be honey that has crystalized, ice cream that has ice all over it, etc. The foods aren't in their normal eating conditions, and thus maybe are said to have 'gone bad', but they are still edible.

To me, 'gone bad' suggested they are not edible and is synonymous with expired. The foods can be eaten since honey can be heated to decrystallize it, the ice in ice cream can be scraped off, etc.


texts: What is the meaning of the term "town hottie"?

texts: I know I heard this term several times before, but when I look it up, I can't find anything on it. Thanks in advance.


texts:
Make the grade is an idiomatic AmE expression meaning:

  Satisfy the requirements, qualify; also, succeed. For example, Angela hoped her work in the new school would make the grade, or Barbara certainly has made the grade as a trial lawyer.

According to  The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms,  this expression uses grade in the sense of "accepted standard." [c. 1900].

The Indu offers an alternative meaning of grade:

  In American English, ‘grade’ is also used to refer to a gradient or a slope. In the context of the idiom, it refers to the steep incline a train has to climb. A train that makes the grade is one that is successful in climbing a steep incline or slope.

and a similar interpretation is given by The Dictionary of American Slang

  1912+; perhaps from a train's ability to climb up the grade or slope of the track.

Questions:

Is there more solid evidence of what "grade" refers to? If the "train" story is true, I guess the expression was probably popular in train/railways related contexts, at least in its earliest usages. Is there any evidence in that respect?


texts: What is the difference between an adjective and a noun modifier?

texts:
"My tire was damaged. I took the damaged tire to the garage."

In the above example, the book (summit) refers to the past participles of the transitive verbs as "noun modifiers" and not "adjectives". What is the difference between them, if any? How would you simply explain it to your students if you were an English teacher?
Would it be wrong to say that the participle "damaged" is an adjective in those sentences?

Thanks


texts: Is there an equivalent to the word sibling for a parent-child relationship?

texts:
Does a parent-child relationship have an equivalent to the word "sibling"?
For example:

Brother to brother: "We are brothers. We are siblings"
Son to father: "We are ________."

I do not know of a word in English to express parent-child relations like that other than in terms of one to the other (i.e. "you are my father; I am your son"). The closet I can think of is using the family name ("we are Lannisters").


texts: What does "happens to" means in this context?

texts:
Sometimes people say like "and he happens to be my bestfriend" he could have instead he "and he is my bestfriend"

I'm trying to understand what's the difference when someone uses "happens to"


texts:
Growth ground to a halt in the second half of 2018, but figures out today showed that the economy gathered pace in 2019, expanding by 0.4% in the first quarter compared with the previous three months. Any cheering will be muted. Part of the recovery reflects the fading of temporary disruptions last year: car production was held up by changes to emissions-testing rules, and low water levels in the Rhine delayed goods shipments. The ZEW survey of firms’ economic sentiment, released yesterday, shows that businesses are still gloomy. That could reflect the trade war between America and China, two of Germany’s three largest export markets. The deadline for America to decide whether to slap tariffs on European cars—May 18th—is also looming. Even though they would hit Germany hardest, the initial effect is likely to be modest. But repeated rounds of tariffs, or a general slowdown in trade, could slam the brakes on growth.

which one is "muted" ? the passive verb or the adj? and what does the sentence mean?


texts: Idioms to mean "becoming a teacher/pastor/etc"?

texts: Are there common idioms to mean "becoming a teacher/pastor/'insert profession here' ", used in a figurative way?


texts: We learned in school that in English always "adjective +noun".But in "Cyrus the great" or "Alexander the great" is "noun+the+adjective". What is the name of the phrase? When could we use that phrase?


texts: Is there a word for numbers and letters, but not punctuation, etc?

texts: Is there a word that would refer to a number or a letter, but not any other character (like a comma or an exclamation mark)?


texts: How alive is the distinction between 'not any more' and 'not any longer'?

texts:
Does

  I don't love you any more.

mean that my love dwindled till there was not any more of it left, focus(s)ing on the process, whereas

  I don't love you any longer.

would mean that there came a day when I had to admit my love had ceased to be, focus(s)ing on that day's more or less sudden realisation rather than on the process which led (had led?) to that day?

How alive is the distinction between 'not any more / no more' and 'not any longer / no longer'?


texts:
In the Economist this week:

  People have, pace vegetarians, evolved to love meat, which contains many necessary nutrients, and especially protein, in higher concentrations than plants do

I'm used to pace meaning "the speed at which one is moving."  Is there another meaning to this word that makes sense in this context, other than perhaps "Slow down, vegetarians! Don't be too hasty to rip into us"


texts: "Undersize" as an adjective? Where did the "d" go?

texts: As I was reading this article, I came across the word "undersize" being used three separate times as an adjective. I was confused, as I don't think I've ever seen that word used that way before (or at all). A couple of days later, I read another article written by a different author that used the same word in the same capacity. What gives? Why not just use "undersized"? Is "undersize" even an actual adjective?


texts: One word for computer Messages, Pictures and Videos

texts:
I usually use "data" but I think this word doesn't refer to Messages, Pictures and videos.

I'm trying to say "Share Messages, Pictures and Videos between devices, Smoothly."

But the sentence is too long and I don't want to repeat "Messages, Pictures and Videos" too many times.

I'm thinking about using "Data" or "Output" instead, but they may refer to so many things rather than just "Messages, Pictures and Videos".


texts:
When analyzing a document, I'd like to know if we had to use a definite article or not: "The document 1" or "Document 1"? And what is the reasoning behind its use or its non-use?

Thank you very much!


texts: Punctuating a salutation on a line by itself

texts:
In a salutation on a line by itself, which version is punctuated correctly?

  Hi, Mr Lawler,

  I am writing to say [...]

  Hi Mr Lawler,

  I am writing to say [...]

  Hi, Mr Lawler.

  I am writing to say [...]


texts: What does "all not" mean exactly in this context?

texts:
All DriveTest Centres do not provide car rentals to applicants.

The sentence above is taken from here.

In my understanding, it means some DriveTest Centres may provide car rentals while others may not.

However, judging from the context, I'm more likely to interpret it as: None of the DriveTest Centres provide car rentals.

Which interpretation should be taken here?


texts: Can I have an example of a context in which the expression throw the net wide is used? I have heard it in passing but it is not clear to me what was meant.


texts: To keep or not to keep THAT is the question

texts:
Is it discretionary to drop "that" from the sentence below (and similar sentences)?
The movie's script was so bad it blew.
Or am I flouting some rule of grammar here?
Thank you!


texts: Which is correct, "counselor/advocates" or "counselors/advocates"?

texts: I am editing a manual and I came across the phrase "counselor/advocates" quite a bit. I always believed that if you were discussing two similar things that were plural and used a backslash to separate them, you were supposed to write them both in the plural form, as in "counselors/advocates", instead of just writing the second word in plural form, as in "counselor/advocates", but I am not sure. Can anyone provide any clarity on this? Thanks in advance!


texts:
Would the collective noun for the Ivanovic family be "Ivanoviches"?

  I called the Invanoviches for confirmation.


texts: "the son of a barkeep is speaker of the House"

texts:
The Wasington Post quotes Obama as saying:

"Here in America, our success should not depend on an accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. That's what drew our forebears here ... [that's] how the son of a barkeep is speaker of the House."

Would it be also possible to say in this context:

"and a scope of our dreams"
"a son of a barkeep is the speaker of the House"?


texts: What does "seconds on time minutes" mean?

texts:
When someone says that duty cycle of a machine is "2 sec on time min, to 100%" what does the quote mean? I know the meaning of "on time" but the combination of words doesn't come to me.

Product details and image


texts: "That's the idea that someone does" vs. "it has the idea of someone does"

texts:
I'm trying to explain what something means. Is it correct to express that using the word "idea" as follows?

  He pulls up next to him. To pull up (pause). That's the idea that someone does X.
  He pulls up next to him. To pull up (pause). It has the idea of someone does X.


texts: One word for: 'You are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem'

texts:
My supervisor at work has asked me to find one word which perfectly relates the following phrase:

'You are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.'

He wants to be able to use the word as noun, verb and possibly adjective. So a word for each type would be acceptable

(P.S. I work in IT - Computer Programmer)


texts: How to use " as .... as " to mean something is beyond someones experience

texts:
I found the following  means something AT the limit of someones experience

  "The wooden stair descending to the Capitol's subbasement were as steep and shallow as any stairs Langdon had ever traversed."

So I was wonder how to use similar expression to say something is beyond someones experience.


texts:
I want to apply for a job in US in one or two years and now I'm trying to learn English grammar. I remember that I read sometime in a book the following sentences:

"I'm going home", "I'm going to school", "I'm going to the airport".

Could you explain me please when I should use "to", "to the" or no one of these, there also was explained that "the" is never used with home or school.

Also, please correct me if I made mistakes somewhere in the above text.

Thank you very much!


texts: Doesn't the meaning of the word "neither" make using the conjunction "nor" after it unnecessary?

texts: What does "neither" mean if you can't use "or" with it?


texts: I can't seem to find a good explanation of what the differences are between the words location and locality. Are they interchangeable, or are there certain contexts in which one or the other must be used?


texts:
I'm Japanese and there is a JP word 'programmer-dependent' which means something relies on human, not the system. Does anybody know how to say that in English?

e.g. Memory management of C is 'programmer-dependent', and that of Python is not (because of GC).

I've searched the word in web, but I found nothing. Thanks.


texts: Rank 2 in National Ph.D. Entrance Exam vs. Rank 2 in the National Ph.D. Entrance Exam

texts:
Is this grammatical? I want to put it in my resume but I'm not sure whether it is grammatical and natural or not.

  Rank 2 in National Ph.D. Entrance Exam 2015

  Top Student in M.A. Program (GPA: 18.69)

  Rank 3 in National M.A. Entrance Exam 2013

  Third Student in B.A. Program (GPA: 17.53)


texts: Jack London's list —X, Y, and a Z and a J

texts:
On the sled, securely lashed, was a long and narrow oblong box.  There
  were other things on the sled—blankets, an axe, and a coffee-pot and
  frying-pan; but prominent, occupying most of the space, was the long
  and narrow oblong box.

The only reason I can discern for using an em-dash is that it's described as being "less formal than a colon."

But what about the list—why does Mr. London suddenly insert and a... and... ?

I'm curious because he must've consciously chosen not to write the sentence as follows:

  ...were other things on the sled: blankets, an axe, a coffee-pot
  and frying-pan


texts: Slang or idioms for someone in a doomed situation

texts:
Are there any idioms, slang or informal expressions for a bad situation that causes trouble for a person and seems impossible to get out of.

An example:
A guy lost a smartphone with a ton of personal information on it, in a public place. The smartphone had his logins, passwords, credit card info, personal porn and selfies. It is unlikely that he will get it back.

  That poor guy is ______
  (or)
  That situation is like _____

I am looking for idioms to describe the situation when someone is in deep trouble and unable to fix it.


texts:
Consider a sentence that ends with a dotted abbreviation, like inc..

According to Wikipedia, the sentence should end with a single dot, but I did not find a more formal reference to that rule.

Should the sentence be ended with one dot or two?


texts: What word describes the action of changing the grammatical person of a sentence?

texts:
For example, if I were to change the following the example sentence from:

  I'm sure you could use your experience to help me out.

to:

  You're sure I could use my experience to help you out.

what would I be doing to that sentence?

I'm looking either for a verb to describe this action, or for a word that describes the category containing:

pronouns like 'I', 'you', etc.,
and inflected pronouns like 'my', 'your', etc.,
but also verb conjugations like 'am', 'are', etc.


texts: Can the word "there" refer to multiple places?

texts:
Probably a silly question, but can the word "there" refer to more than one place?

Consider the following sentence:

"I visited City A and City B again even though I went there last year."

Can "there" refer to both cities? Or should I use the following instead?

"I visited City A and City B again even though I went to them last year."


texts: Can you use 'correlation' in the following form?

texts:
Is this a correct usage of 'correlation"?

Studies indicates a correlation between A with B?

Ex:
Studies indicates a correlation between early exposure to music and song with future success in math and language.


texts: Degrees of Criticality / Lateness or whatever

texts:
I am writing a Web Application where I am going to list certain events and their overdue days. If an event is overdue by less than 10 days then its safe. If it is overdue by over 10 days but less than 30 days then I would add a flag called warning beside it.

The problem is I am not sure if the words safe and warning are proper.

Ok. The application is a timesheet application and I am listing the weeks where the User has not submitted the timsheets (timesheets are pending) and hence over due.

Can anyone give me 4 or 5 words to describe various degrees of overdue?

I am not sure how to word this question or do a Google search. What do you call these kind of set of words?

EDIT:
I think Ive got answer for my question. But what do you call these series of words?


texts: Is there a North American English language authority?

texts: If I took the SATs and they marked something wrong that I thought was right and because of that I didn't get into Harvard so I sued that I wanted my SAT score increased because they were actually wrong and it was a antonym or something, then who would be the arbiter of what the language means?


texts:
Quoted from here:

  green gfx bugs while playing avi file encoded with ultimotion codec

  most likely libavfilter-caused regression

Can someone here explain in more detail?


texts:
Let's say, that I'm at a sleepover and got put in the corner with no direct way of getting to the door without disturbing other people. If I wake up, having to use the restroom or get a drink, I get extremely anxious and have to find some complicated way of getting around the other people without waking up, which can get so bad that I start sobbing. I have always had this problem ever since I was a kid and I would get really scared to wake my mom up if I threw up or she slept in too long. Is there a phobia-suffix word for this or a way to get over it?

Duplicate of Is there a word with phobia suffix for fear of waking others up?


texts:
This term seem to occur at footnotes and bibliographical references.

Fenlon D. Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine, Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Information, Cambridge 1972, ad indicem.
WS Lewis, RT Brown - New Haven [1937-83], ad indicem, 1941

Even through extensive Googling, I am not able to find a proper definition for this term. Neither could I even find a dictionary that could define this.
It seems to be from Latin origin, but its repeated use within English context requires me to ask this question in this site.


texts: What is the name for right-aligning a citation on the last line of a paragraph?

texts:
Is there a term for when you layout a paragraph with a right-aligned citation on the last line, like this:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Phasellus quam mauris, tincidunt eget volutpat sit amet,
placerat vel justo.                             Citation

I ask because I've seen this in a book where space was at a premium. I'm working on a layout engine where I need to be able to do this, and I'd like to to be able to learn more about it if this is a thing.


texts: use of "has been" vs. "was" for a website

texts: When writing notifications for a website, for example: "Your password has been reset successfully", when do I use "has been" and when do I use "was" as in "Your password was reset successfully". I already considered the present perfect continuous and past continuous tense rule however it doesn't help me in this case.


texts: The word for understanding that everything is one?

texts: Is there an actual a word for the understanding that everything and everyone is one?


texts: Does "Predicate" includes object, complement and modifiers?

texts:
I'm currently studying the "Sentence Structure" for the English language. I've found varied information in this regard.

Some sources says that the sentence consist of five components: Subject + Predicate + Object + Complement + Modifier

Some other sources say that it consist of only two components: Subject + Predicate.

Now, I'm confused, whether predicate actually includes the object, complement, and modifier in itself or not. If yes, why some sources mention them separately from the "Predicate"?


texts:
99% of people, 99% of things, events, dogs, whatever.

99%

Recently I used what is to me as a Brit a pretty common figure of speech, saying "99% of people would x", meaning simply that the vast majority of people would x.

However this seemed to cause massive confusion amongst Americans who began asking where I got that statistic, that they had read a number closer to 70%, etc... Taking it all very very literally.

I am wondering, does this figure of speech have no currency in the Americas? Or were these particular people just being obtuse?

Googling around brings me no answer, just a few cases of people using it, oddly however I do find a wiktionary page for "51 percent" meaning a slim majority which is not one I've ever heard before. Is this one common in the US?


texts: What's a better way to say, "I picked up many interesting facts/points..."

texts:
Yesterday, I watched an educational video for an essay I'm writing, and when I began writing the intro, somewhere I wrote:

  I picked up many interesting points/facts from this video that I’ve experienced in my life before.

However, I don't think this is the best way to say it because it sounds wrong, but I'm not sure what will be better to use.


texts:
In my native language, we use the word 'courgette' or 'zucchini' to mean something like nepotism in English. Its origin goes back to the days where there were walls around districts and merchants had to wait at the gates to enter their merchandise which was fruit and vegetables. Those who sold courgettes used to cry 'Courgette!' so they were allowed in first as this kind of vegetable goes bad fast in our hot climate.
Is there an idiomatic expression in English that is equivalent to 'courgette'? Thanks in advance.


texts:
The sense of this passage is quite clear. Unlike the syntax.

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita.

The first two lines, are they syntactically connected to the 3rd? It seems like they lack either a verb or punctuation. How come "tropical" comes before "the island breeze"?


texts: "If I would go there, I would be in trouble" - correct?

texts:
Occasionally I've seen the construct:

  If I would [verb], I would [verb].

... used, to indicate that the second clause is a condition of the first.  For example,

  If I would go there, I would be in trouble.

The way I would usually express this is:

  If I [subjunctive-verb], I would [verb].

So for example:

  If I went there, I would be in trouble.

Is the former correct, or in common usage among native English speakers anywhere?


texts: "[Brand] Terms and Privacy" vs. "the [Brand] Terms and Privacy"

texts:
I just developed a sign-up form for my website, but as English is not my native language I'm not sure which wording of the following sentence is correct:

  I agree to [Brand name] Terms and Privacy.
  I agree to the [Brand name] Terms and Privacy.

I've searched on several big websites, but I've come across both.


texts:
I already looked them up in dictionaries, but I can't understand the meanings completely.

They said:

Proportion is a derived term of portion.
As nouns the difference between proportion and portion is that proportion is (countable) a quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number while portion is an allocated amount.
As verbs the difference between proportion and portion is that proportion is (arts) to set or render in proportion while portion is to divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
As nouns the difference between ratio and proportion is that ratio is a number representing a comparison between two things while proportion is (countable) a quantity of something that is part of the whole amount or number.
As a verb proportion is  (arts) to set or render in proportion.
As nouns the difference between portion and ratio is that portion is portion while ratio is reason.

I summarised them as the picture above.

According to the pie graph below (the previous question), I have been told differently that the words "ratio" and "proportion" don't suit the following sentence.

  Overall, the numbers/percentages are not that very different for each _____.

However, as stated in my summary, thus "ratio" equals "percentage", and "proportion" is a quantity of something that is part of the whole amount. Now they should fit the sentence, shouldn't they?

What are the difference between:

1. proportion

2. portion

and

3. ratio?

Thank you very much :)


texts: Simple representation for "under the condition that"

texts:
I'm writing a academic paper, and would like to represent "under the condition that" more simply.

In (very redundant) representation, what I'd like to say is:

  We determined the observation points under the condition that the
  distances between every two observation points are approximately 500
  meter.

Is the following representation correct?

  We determined the observations points for the distance of each of them to be approximately 500 meter.

Mmm, I don't feel it sounds correct... Please help.


texts:
There is a single word to describe people with a lack of honesty: liar. Is there an equivalent single word to describe an honest person?

The word must be a noun and not an adjective. The are obviously many adjectives that describe people who tell the truth. I am looking for something somewhat like the Spanish word, verdadero.


texts: Different ways to say you are leaving work for the day

texts:
What are some formal ways to tell the boss or colleagues in the office you are leaving for the day? I am new to this, I googled and found this link but I want some more professional or creative way to say this other than,

I am leaving now
I will make a move now
I am leaving for the day


texts:
I've got a sentence:

  Cleaned the lake from the ice.

Question: Does it really mean "the lake with no ice on it" or does it mean that "the ice now is clear."?


texts: Is it correct: "We don’t have to go there if we don’t want to"?

texts:
Which sentences are correct?

  We don’t have to go there if we don’t want to.

or

  We haven’t to go there if we don’t want to.


texts: Capitalization of "School" as an adjective

texts:
I am working on a research poster, and the teacher supervising wrote the following language. It doesn't seem to me like "School" is a proper noun, but he tells me it is when referring to a specific school. Is the following sentence correct? Is it the best way to say this?

  Such questions would allow us to learn how the School culture affected
  cheating.

"School" refers to our school, but I still don't think it looks right capitalized (especially when used as an adjective).


texts: Is there a specific term and/or jocose name for a building resembling a motorcycle cylinder head?

texts:
A cylinder head (with the cooling fins) looks like this:

There's a bunch of buildings that look like that in this image of downtown Houston:

Is there a specific name and/or term for those?


texts: In the German language we have a word if you are studying to become a teacher (called 'Lehramt'). I was wondering whether there is a term for that discipline in the English language as well because I'm always feeling the need for a more specific word. Since English is not my first language I might just have missed a simple term for that.


texts: What is the word to describe "the gaining of full control over an ability or power you already have"?

texts:
For example, a Jedi is born with powers, but must learn how to control them in order to use them. What's the one best word for this?

  I have _ _ _ my power.

The word is in the back of my head but I can't pull it out. It also means to have a full understanding of something.

  I _ _ _ the way the world works.


texts: Backshifting in the that-clause of 'make sure'

texts:
Do you normally backshift a verb in the that-clause of 'make sure' when the 'make' is 'made,' 'could make,' 'would make,' etc.?

Please take a look at the examples below. Are my thoughts on the right track?

  A man is asking his travel agent to get seats next to each other's for him and his wife on a plane.
  [1] If you could please make sure we (sat/ sit) together, I'd appreciate it.
  My thought: Either is fine. You could backshift 'sit,' but you don't have to.

  A man asked his travel agent to arrange consecutive seats on a plane for him and his wife, and they did.

  [2] They made sure we (sat/ sit) together.
  My thought: If sitting has not yet happened, you can say either, but if it did, you only can say 'sat.'

  [3] They made sure we (would/ will) sit together.
  My thought: If sitting has not yet happened, you can say either, but if it did, you only can say 'would.'


texts: Short phrase for something that is recognised but not identified?

texts:
I've had a long discussion with people on the differences between recognizing a face in a crowd (I know I've seen that person before) and identifying the person you see (That's the waitress from the diner).

Is there a short phrase for those faces (or other objects) that you recognize but do not identify?  For example, when watching a TV show I frequently know I've seen an actor/actress before but not where and certainly with no knowledge of their name.

Unidentified covers those I do not recognize as well as those I do.
Familiar faces works the other way in that it would also cover those I can name, but it is much closer to the sort of phrase I am looking for.


texts: Phrase to describe the "act of sharing an opinion"

texts:
I am writing a research paper on the use of social media for the purpose of terrorism. For one of my supporting statements, I am attempting to describe how social media connects users with similar interests in order to promote people to share opinions, yet I cannot figure out the proper wording for the sentence. This is what I have so far:

  Social Media connects users with similar interests, allowing for the [act of sharing an opinion], effectively increasing the incentive for one to speak out regarding their beliefs regarding contemporary events and issues.

The phrase is on the tip of my tongue, but I cannot seem to think of it. Thank you!


texts: word for that time of the month where funds are running low and you gotta wait til payday

texts:
Basically title, but is the meaning of the Indonesian phrase "tanggal Tua".
Any ideas?


texts: Subject-verb agreement for property of the items of a list

texts:
Consider the sentence

  The cavity of each device A, B, and C was/were ...

where each device has only one cavity. Cavity is singular, but it is applied to each of the items of a list. How should one decide to use the singular or plural here?

An alternative form of the sentence is

  The cavities of devices A, B, and C were ...

However, it seems that this form leaves ambiguous whether each device has one or more cavities. Would either form be satisfactory?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "stand on your head and spit wooden nickels?"

texts: Where does this phrase come from? Was there a time in which it was in popular use? Is it an American English phrase?


texts: Countries "of the world" or "in the world"

texts:
How should I say:

  There are many threats faced by almost all countries IN the world

or

  There are many threats faced by almost all countries OF the world

I used to say "IN the world". However, I have seen both of the cases on the Internet.


texts: How should I address a letter to a married couple who are both doctors?

texts:
Dr. John and Dr. Jane Doe?

Drs. John and Jane Doe?

Other?


texts: What does "what is your deal?" mean in an informal, romantic context?

texts:
I've heard a guy saying "What is your deal?" when hitting up on a girl two times on a TV show.

  According to the Free Dictionary:

  What's the deal? (informal) something that you say in order to ask someone to explain what they have been doing or what they are planning to do:

  So, what's the deal - are we going out to dinner?

Here someone says that "What's your deal" is a way of asking "what's up".

The latter seems more plausible, though after having looked it up on the Internet it appears that it's just one man's opinion. So, which meaning of this question is right in this case?


texts: "Sounds almost like" vs. "almost sounds like"

texts:
Which sentence structure is more accurate?

  ... that sounds almost like a command.
  ... that almost sounds like a command.


texts: Is word "crapy' considered a swear? Will it be considered impolite or rude?


texts: Is there a better way to refer to "Real Life" when chatting online?

texts:
When having a conversation through an online service, you may encounter a scenario like this:

(Messenger chat)

Me: Hello Stranger!
Stranger: Hello!
Me: What do you think of Barack Obama?
Stranger: He's a good friend! We play tennis together!
Me: Oh? You meet him in real life?

Whenever I say "real life" or "in reality" during this kind of online conversations, I hesitate and have this horrible itch where I tell myself "gosh, this doesn't make sense at all, how is this NOT real life?"

Is there a better term to use in this kind of situation?

I don't want to say "in reality" because, well, even an online chat is reality...well, even if you disagree with that, is there an alternative anyway?


texts: Word for things that people have different opinions towards

texts:
This word is a common-ish word, and it has been on my mind all day. It's really frustrating to keep attempting to find out what this word has been alone, so I decided to just ask others here.

The word basically is directed at things that people have different opinions towards.

Example: You can't say that art piece is good. Art is _______.

Anybody have an idea?


texts: What do you call a combination of date and time?

texts:
Those who know programming simply call this as DateTime. For example, "2015-12-22 03:11:25".

Instead of referring it to simply DateTime, is there any other suitable name?


texts: First use of "judge, jury, and executioner"

texts: I was wondering when the expression "judge, jury, and executioner" was first used. It appears in "A Study in Scarlet" (1887), but I don't know how to look for earlier usage.


texts: "I'm dry" meaning "Would you buy me a drink?" What semantic or rhetorical term describes such usage?

texts:
Instead of saying "Could I have some water, please?" a visitor says "I am thirsty".  The host understands it perfectly and says "Let me get you something to drink. What would you like?"  or at a diner, the beautiful blond says "I'm dry" and her date immediately calls the waitress.  There are lots of situations when we say something and mean something else but the listener understands perfectly what we mean.  No ambiguity as in the examples below, where an answer would be considered a joke. What kind of term describes that?

e.g.
P1 "Can you pass the salt?"     P2 "Yes, of course I can."
P1 "Have you got a pen?"  P2 "Yes, I do."

Edit - For clarity - A whole sentence (not a word or phrase) means something but we mean something else, and listener understands what we mean.


texts: "...and all would have to be accounted for." Improper sentence ending at 'for'. Please suggest alternative

texts:
I have this statement that I do not want to end at 'for' (I read somewhere that it is improper to end at 'for').

  The problem is hard as there are many sources of failures, and all
  would have to be accounted for.

Please suggest alternative.


texts:
a) When can I use "comparative adjective + a + noun" and when not? When can I add "a + noun" after "comparative adjective" and when not?
b) What is the difference between "comparative adjective + a + noun" and "comparative adjective + noun"?
forum.wordreference.com:

1. It may be a bit longer a wait.
2. Theirs is no bigger a house than ours.
3. How much longer a journey was it to your old job?
4. I would have preferred more modern a style.

Thanks!


texts: Word similar to nepotism/favouritism toward another culture or religion

texts:
Hi I'm trying to find a word to describe a situation as follows:

Giving better care to a patient of a particular religion or culture because they asked for it specifically.
Not the same religion as the caregiver, therefore I don't think it's nepotism.
I'm trying to write a paper asking why we do not give this 'better' care to all of our patients, not just those that ask for it.

Thanks


texts: Where do I insert commas when I have 'for which' and 'both...and' in one sentence?

texts:
I need some advice on the punctuation in this sentence. Specifically around 'for which' and 'both...and'. When do I insert commas?

I hold both a Master of Literature for which I was awarded Pass A with distinction, and a Master of Communication.


texts: I have recently encountered a peculiar  thing. While I was watching a Youtuber from England I heard him pronounce words like "everybody", "God" etc the American way with an /ɑ/ instead of an /ɒ/. This seems strange to me because in any other words which had the same sound he pronounced it the English way with an /ɒ/. I did some research about it and I found that there are other people who use the American phoneme only in certain words like those above and stick to /ɒ/ for the others. Is this a feature of modern speech in England? Is it considered odd to do this? Thank you in advance!


texts: How should I use a possessive apostrophe when a name is between commas?

texts:
Is this the correct use of an apostrophe when showing a name and relationship?

  When was your father, Robert's, wedding?

Thanks!


texts: What is an alternative way to say "I am done"?

texts: Is there a different way to say "I am done" to mean that I completed a task? I am trying to avoid misunderstandings with somebody who doesn't speak English.


texts: What to call a very unlikely combination or construction?

texts:
In Romanian, there are words and phrases like "struțo-cămilă" (ostricho-camel) or "magaoaie" (donkeysheep). They both designate comical combinations but while the first one can include combinations that can actually work very well (although the journalists are using it mainly to criticise strange combinations), the second one designates a combination or construction something big, ugly, hard to move and unworkable.

Another word is "crocofant" (crocodil+elefant) but that's just a writer's invention and largely unknown.

I'm not looking only for portmanteaus, also two or three word combinations are good. And they don't have to involve animals. There might be a vast number of such words/phrases, therefore the most used are good enough.

Examples:

magaoaie (donkeysheep): A big, old battle cruiser that barely works. It's a structure so it's still a combination of it's parts.
struțo-cămilă (ostricho-camel): "A socialist political party with super-rich leaders" or "A wagon with a steering wheel" or "Privatizing a company by selling it to another state-owned company"

What kind of similar English words or phrases exist?


texts:
Very difficult sentence structure. The bold part is very confusing.

  Although these molecules allow radiation wavelength, where most of the
  energy of sunlight is concentrated, to pass through, they absorb some
  of the longer wavelength, infrared emissions radiated from Earth's
  surface, radiation that would otherwise be transmitted back into
  space.

The bold part is very awkward. My friend told me "radiation that would otherwise be transmitted..." is the appositive clause to "infrared emissions radiated.....". I don't trust her. So what is the interpretation of the bolded part?


texts:
I need a word which means capable, confident, legitimate.

It should imply no negative connotation when used in this sentence:

  He wanted to become a (more) ____ accountant.

“Legitimate” would not work, because it implies that he was not legitimate before.

It needs to imply that he was a working accountant before, but became more capable. A phrase may also work, but the primary focus is to find a single word that describes this.


texts:
Can I insert a comma in this sentence like this:

"Consequently, the type of the vehicle they are using can be specified as well as if they are walking or stationary somewhere."

Or is the sentence better without it:

"Consequently the type of the vehicle they are using can be specified as well as if they are walking or stationary somewhere."


texts: "See it important" or "See it as important"?

texts:
I have encountered both. Which is (more) correct?
Examples of use:

I see it important to stay fit.
I see it as important to have education.

I tried searching google for it, but the results are inconclusive...


texts:
This one has been bugging me for a while. The first time I discovered that the word for graves in Arabic was مَقَابِر (maqābir), it seemed the obvious source or indirect source of macabre, but apparently not.

According to Wiktionary

  [Macabre] is borrowed from French macabre, whose etymology is
  uncertain. Most commonly believed to be from corruption of the
  biblical name Maccabees; compare French danse macabre, presumably from
  Latin Chorea Machabaeorum. Possibly from Spanish macabro, from Arabic
  مَقَابِر (maqābir, “tombs, cemeteries”), plural of مَقْبَرَة
  (maqbara) or مَقْبُرَة (maqbura) or of مَقْبَر (maqbar), but the
  Arabic etymology is rejected by Romance linguists.

Etymonline doesn't even mention the Arabic similarities.

The most accepted version seems to be (etymonline) "that it came into English from the French from Old French (danse) Macabré "(dance) of Death"". But the origins of the dans macabré are not known either.

  Does anyone know why an ultimate Arabic derivation via either the
  Spanish macabro or the French macabré was ruled out by linguists
  considering that neither of these has a known source?


texts:
I’m Turkish and there is a name for the thing you put your coat on or scarf when you enter a house or office, dilsiz uşak. The thing is translated word for word as ‘dumb butler’. I looked it up in Turkish and a dictionary provided me with this translation. I thought it came from English to Turkish. But a google search on ‘dumb butler’ results in nearly nothing. Is that a real phrase or not? Thanks in advance!

Turkish version: dilsiz uşak sample image


texts:
I read the sentence

  The food was complemented with an array of musical bands.

My question has two parts:

Can food be complemented with music?
The difference between complemented by and complemented with. Are both correct? If not what is the difference?


texts: What is the name for words that are only used in a certain order even though switching them would be grammatically correct?

texts: E.g. hammer and anvil, and part and parcel.  Unlike a normal cliche all of these would make sense if you switched the word order, but no one ever does.  I remember seeing a name for this, but can't remember what it was.


texts: Adding an L when appending an -ium suffix to a word? (Metallium vs. Metalium)

texts:
I am Romanizing a business name from Hebrew, and am wondering what the most appealing or 'correct' spelling might be - 'Metallium' or 'Metalium'. The owners of the business went with the latter, but my intuition strongly felt the former seems more correct.

As far as I can tell, the -ium suffix is generally used for forming Latin nouns and English elements. But this doesn't particularly help me decide on the spelling which seems best.

Can anybody offer me heuristics to support one choice or the other?


texts: Accompanying person in corporate environment

texts:
International customers attend the training center of a company for training purposes. Sometimes those customers are accompanied by translators or salespersons. I am looking for a short noun to name those persons in application forms.
Possible candidates:

escort
companion
chaperon or chaperone
assistant

The customers are not native English speakers. Currently, I refer to them as accompanying person.
Can any of the above words be used in business context? The word escort seems inappropriate (some sort of prostitution service). A companion is a friend, maybe a wartime comrade, or a business partner. An assistant implies a certain hierarchy between the customer and the person who accompanies him or her. And chaperone is a word I've never actually heard. It is probably of French origin and sounds old-fashion, but is probably not suitable here.
Right now, I would either choose companion or stick to accompanying person.


texts:
Should I add a full stop/period at the end of each item in a bullet point list?

i.e.

My first item.
My second item.
My third item.

or

My first item
My second item
Or what about a longer item that might have other puncuation in it, like this. It doesn't seem right to miss the full stop/period off


texts: Is it feasible to use "provided that" in second conditionals or third conditionals?

texts:
I would really appreciate it if someone could let me know whether it is feasible to use "provided that" or "providing that" with third or second conditional statements. I mean, is it appropriate to write sentences as the following ones.

If she passed the exam, she could apply to the university. But she does not work much these days.

Provided that she passed the exam, she could apply for the university.

If she had worked hard, she could have passed the exam. But she couldn't achieve that as she didn't work hard.

Provided that she had worked hard, she could have passed the exam.


texts:
Basically, relative adverbs modify their antecedent and antecedents should be nouns, which I learned.

However, in the following sentence, 'where', which I think is a relative adverb, seems to modify 'outdoor,' which is an adverb:

Visual awareness is also heightened outside, where the eyes are exercised by motion.

Also, if 'where' is relative adverb, then it is used as a nonrestrictive relative adverb. Does 'where' modify 'outdoor,' despite the fact that it is an adverb, or is its antecedent the whole sentence before the comma?  Or isn't 'where' a relative adverb at all?

Thank you.


texts: What do you ask when you want to join a queue?

texts:
If you are wanting to join a long queue what do you ask the person at the back?

"Is this the start of the queue?"
"Is this the end of the queue?"

Consider people at the supermarket counter. Is the start of the queue the place you go to start queuing?


texts: The statement "people are humans", as a metaphor?

texts:
I want to use the phrase "people are humans", as to differentiate between the perception of mindless ants running around, and individuals with complex feelings and understandings of the world.

So for instance:

  That the country is full of uneducated masses is, to me, fundamentally untrue; people are humans and their creativity defines them.

Thoughts?


texts:
Is the correct capitalization Hellenistic Period or Hellenistic period?

Thank you


texts: Word for evaluating or understanding a system as a whole

texts:
Trying to rediscover a word I used to enjoy using but have forgotten. To mean something like: "Looking at something as a sum of its constituent interconnected parts". My dodgy brain keeps returning 'heuristic"...

"From a ____ point of view I would say...."

The opposite would be

"From a granular point of view I would say..."


texts:
Watching a cooking show a few days ago, the lady that presented it used the expression a half a cup or a half a teaspoon several times during the programme.

I've heard half a [something] used before lots of times, but never with an extra a stuck at the front as in a half a [something]. Is this a typical American expression? Is it slang? Is it a dialect?

Background:

It was shown on Food Network UK, but obviously was an American show. (Just checked while writing this, it was presented by Paula Deen).
I'm not a native speaker, never been to the US, but been to the UK countless times, so I wouldn't necessarily know anything that's specific to the US.


texts: A single or double word that describes a group of casual but important guides or scouts

texts:
The word needs to describe group of people that you choose to influence you. It would be nice if the word was reasonably simple or hip as well.

examples:  guides, advisors, council, brain trust, concierge, sphere, tribe


texts:
I would like an alternative for the word "pedantic". "Pedantic" has the meaning of :

  highly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in learning or teaching.

The problem is, "pedantic" is used in a negative way, that is, it is used for some one who is "ostentatious, and overly concerned". I would like to have a word that has the same meaning as this word(concerned with minute details), minus the negative connotations.

Some come to mind:

meticulous, but "meticulous" can also be used for habits, such as meticulous habits in tidiness etc.
scholarly, but "scholarly" although used for study, does not necessarily have the connotation of highly meticulous study. It can just be study of a subject, without going in-depth.

Ideas please?


texts: mixed metaphor - a matter of personal opinion?

texts:
The following sentence from The Great Gatsby strikes me as a mixed metaphor.

  The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain.

The author is thus calling her (Daisy's) voice both an "exhilarating ripple" and "a wild tonic." To me, those ideas clash.

A colleague insists that this is a beautiful description of Daisy's voice and not, in fact, a mixed metaphor.

The definition of mixed metaphor, from Merriam-Webster online:

  a metaphor that combines different images or ideas in a way that is foolish or illogical

And from Google dictionary:

  a combination of two or more incompatible metaphors, which produces a ridiculous effect

Clearly, the sentence in The Great Gatsby combines different images or ideas, so is it simply a matter of personal opinion whether this combination is "foolish" or produces a "ridiculous effect"?


texts: Where does the phrase "get crackin'" come from?

texts:
"There's a lot of work to be done, so we'd better get crackin'"

I've often used this expression, but I have no idea what we might have been cracking, originally? Any insight?


texts: What is the origin of "to lie through one's teeth"?

texts:
I read the origins of this saying are quite old:

  "...traceable to the early 1300's as in THE ROMANCES OF SIR GUY OF WARWICK,"

According to this: https://www.englishforums.com/English/EtymologyThroughTeeth/jhphl/post.htm

Did this apparently obscure reference serve as the source of the saying, or was it defined earlier and then used in this text?

Bonus question: Does lying through the teeth imply with a smile?


texts: How to describe teeth placement/setting without using "were"? (Past tense)

texts:
I don't want to say:

  Although his top teeth were straight, his bottom row of teeth were crooked.

Is there a different/stronger verb I could use in place of "were" to describe the setting of his (Gustafa's) teeth?

I could reword this sentence if need be, I'm in the self-editing stage and I don't want to use was/were unless I have to – I'm sure there's a more fitting word here I can use – as long as it doesn't sound too formal or forced.

I also don't want to sound like a jerk and say "jutted".


texts:
Statistics shows that people are having fewer children these days!
  Statistics show that people are having fewer children these days!

Which one is grammatical?


texts: I've just read from a comment somewhere that 'a very emotional' is grammatically wrong, and it should be 'an very emotional'. Why is 'very' ignored in this case? If it should be ignored, are there any other words that should also be ignored?


texts:
I was watching a TED talk on cartoons in The New Yorker, and the presenter used an idiom I've never heard.

But like I said, you cannot satisfy everyone. You couldn't satisfy this guy.
"Another joke on old white males. Ha ha. The wit. It's nice, I'm sure to be young and rude, but some day you'll be old, unless you drop dead as I wish."
The New Yorker is rather a sensitive environment, very easy for people to get their nose out of joint.

In this context it is easy to see that means to get someone annoyed or bothered (similar to "knickers in a twist" or "panties in a bunch".)
I'm just curious as to where it's come from and when/where the popular use is, as I've never heard it before. I'm 23 and live in PA.


texts:
I am reading a book: "Bridget Jones: Mad about the boy" but I have found an expression which I don't understand: "to have older brothers". This is the sentence:

  "Did she hurt her mouth?" said Billy, looking puzzled, at which Jeremiah, who had older brothers, spurted out laughing.

This is the context: Bridget was in the bushes with Mr Wallaker who try to kiss her but her son and his two friends surprised them. I don't understand the expression "older brothers" I don't think it refers to the fact that Jeremiah actually has older brothers. Thank you very much in advance for your help


texts:
In my job I test different versions of varying degrees on websites. Basically A vs B, and the results of this test determine which version should be developed.

The way a winner is chosen is by looking at the data. We can only take action on statistically significant data. When we talk about results some people say "we can't act on this because the data is insignificant" whereas I think we should say "we can't act on this because the data is unsignificant".

To me, insignificant data means it's not interesting/worth noting whereas unsignificant data means it hasn't reached statistical significance.

Is there any difference between the two?

(Not sure if this is the right board for this one but as it's about difference of wording I thought I'd start here)


texts:
In a document I found the following sentence:

  listeners are more accurate at understanding speech spoken in their own accent...

Would it be an error to use "in" instead of "at"?

Actually in this case "at" sounds better than "in", but in general before verb is "at" always used?


texts:
I'm using a sentence that "Authors give this idea in that somehow describing attitude in another perspective" Here I want to use the sentences with the word contemplate (to view or consider)
"Authors give this idea in that somehow contemplating the attitude in another perspective"
Is this make sense I mean is it okay to use "contemplating" here? or any better option. Just to keep in view I'm asking from an academic writing perspective.


texts: Ending a statement with the word 'already'

texts: What does the word 'already' at the end of a sentence indicate? For instance Enough With The Resolutions Already which is a title of an article on lifehacker. Does it mean 'now'? Does it mean 'I'm unhappy'? As a New Zealander, this term is unfamiliar to me. Is it an Americanism? What part of speech is it?


texts: How offensive is calling someone "dodgy"?

texts:
Labour MP Dennis Skinner has been suspended from Parliament for the day for calling the Prime Minister "Dodgy Dave".

I would like to know how serious of an insult it is. Can you put this insult to scale with some other insults?

In 2012 Cameron called his opponent "muttering idiot" and wasn't suspended from parliament for a day, so I thought that "dodgy" is worse than "idiot". Is my hypothesis right?


texts: single word noun for "whole" as opposed to parts/components?

texts:
What is a good single word noun for referring to the "whole" in a part-whole relationship?

I'm looking for a noun with a clear connotation that suggests this thing is made up of parts and/or components (without actual mention of parts etc.). I looked up synonyms of "whole" as a noun in Merriam-Webster, and got the following:

  aggregate, full, sum, summation, sum total, total, totality

But they sound too abstract (just like the words "whole" or "entirety").

I also thought about the word "System", but it seems to imply too much (a complex system with structures and hierarchies etc.)

Is there a good word that's more concrete than the above-mentioned synonyms, but does not overkill as words such as "system", "organization" etc.?


texts:
I often see in particular Americans use the words "he/she" (also sometimes "he or she") as a gender-neutral pronoun.

This is grammatically incorrect (the sentence "he/she" makes no grammatical sense), it's clumsy, it's long (two syllables), and, to be a bit pedantic, it doesn't even solve the problem of gender bias, because why is it "he/she" and not "she/he"?

On the other hand, we have the perfectly viable alternative of using "they". It's short, it's grammatically correct, it's completely neutral, it just works.

So why do so many speakers use the clumsy "he/she" rather than the elegant "they"?


texts: Others ways to say "I wish you the best in your decision"

texts:
I'm writing a business letter. Wondering if there are other ways to say "I wish you the best in your decision" (already used it in a recent letter to the same person).

Found "I wish you well in your decision."

Also found the following somewhat related topics. Interesting, but no cigar:

"Best of luck" or "Best luck"?

Wishing someone that something goes easily for them

What is the neutral way of telling someone to "do whatever you want"?

Grateful for your help.


texts: What is the meaning of "judgmental comments"?

texts: What is the meaning of "judgmental comments" and where can it be used?


texts:
I know that in order to spell a number you have to insert an "and" between the hundred and units. For instance 301 will be "three hundred and one". But what about larger numbers?
1,301 is "one thousand three hundred and one"
or
"one thousand and three hundred and one"?

In this case, British an American spelling is the same?


texts: What is the adjectival form for the word "integrity?"

texts:
I'm looking for the adjectival form of "integrity."
Instead of "Be a person of integrity," I'd like to say something like "Be [one word I'm looking for]"
I did a Google search for this, but I also wanted to know what stackexchange folks would like to say.


texts: What is the difference between "task" and "assignment"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Task, project, assignment, job. Which one is correct in my case?

These words don't have exact matches in Portuguese, so sometimes I get confused about their usage. When is it more suitable to use task rather than assigment and vice versa?


texts: What is the difference between "look into" and "look at" when used in figurative meaning?

texts:
Thank you for sending me the introduction of your company. We will
  "look into"/"look at" it later.

What is the difference between "look into" and "look at" when used with a figurative meaning in the above sentence?

What I would like to express is that I will probably consider something later (it was needed sometime in the future) and will not consider it seriously in the short term. Which phrase is more appropriate? What is the polite way to say it?


texts: What is the meaning of this sentence starting with "Nevertheless"?

texts:
I cannot quite comprehend the meaning of the sentence in bold print, and I wish to realize what it conveys:

  In the United States, a long-standing controversy over the Virginia Military Institute resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling, in June 1996, that the institute must admit women. Nevertheless the Court left room for private (i.e. not state-run) single-sex institutions and other such schools, where needed, to redress discrimination.

So, judging from the context, if I were the writer, I would write:

The Supreme Court ruled that the military school must accept women applicants, Nevertheless, the Court did not say anything about private schools

Due to the word Nevertheless, I would suppose the previous sentence and the latter contradicts in meaning, but it doesn't seem to be the case, as in the article it wrote:

  Nevertheless the Court left room for private (i.e. not state-run) single-sex institutions and other such schools, where needed, to redress discrimination.

This sentence seems odd to me because the two sentence appear to play the same role: Supreme Court don't like discrimination, thus the word nevertheless is inappropriately used.

Is there anything that I fail to understand? I wish someone could enlighten me.


texts: Can you please explain the grammar structure here?

texts:
Can you please explain the grammar behind the use of the article "a" in the following sentence, as you would explain it to an English language learner?

Teresa, from the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute, tries to keep a shivering, injured Winter warm and calm.

(p.s. Winter is the injured dolphin's name)

Thank you so much!


texts: "downtime" vs. "time off" vs. "free time" vs. "spare time" in AmEng vernacular

texts:
How do those terms differ from each other?
downtime

North American A time of reduced activity or inactivity:
everyone needs downtime to unwind ODO

spare time

Noun

time available for hobbies and other activities that you enjoy: free time

time off - a time period when you are not required to work; he requested time off to attend his grandmother's funeral

time that is free from duties or responsibilities: free time

leisure, leisure time - time available for ease and relaxation; his job left him little leisure WordNet by Fatlex

Please, compare:

Everyone needs downtime to unwind.
Everyone needs time off to unwind.
Everyone needs free time to unwind.
Everyone needs spare time to unwind.

-and-

Annette and her husband use their free time to attend Chicago Bears games, play with their puppy, and spend time with their new granddaughter Annabelle.
Annette and her husband use their spare time to attend Chicago Bears games, [...]
Annette and her husband use their time off to attend Chicago Bears games, [...]
Annette and her husband use their downtime to attend Chicago Bears games, [...]


texts: Looking for the opposite of "drill down"

texts: I am a programmer working on a chart component that allows to drill down on selection of a node. Drilling down will show the details of that node (like its children etc.). But I am struggling to find out a word to describe the opposite of drilling down. "Drill up" sounds wrong. Does anyone have a nifty little word that conveys the opposite of "drilling down"? Something to convey the action of moving from something more specific to something more general.


texts: Present perfect or past simple - "the best movie I (saw/'ve seen) this year"

texts:
I know the rule is to use past simple when you specify the time when the described action happened, but I strangely dislike this sentence and I'm not sure if the rule applies:

"It's the best movie I saw this year".

Shouldn't it be: "It's the best movie I've seen this year"?

Please, could you justify your answers? Thank you in advance!

Cheers


texts:
Any differences in meaning? The dictionary doesn't explain. Google Ngrams

  This dispute between the king and the estate of William Bankes, owner
  of coastal land including Corfe Castle, concerned who had the best title to casks that had
  washed ashore near Poole in Dorset. The court divided the casks between the disputants.

Source: P186, How the Law Works, Gary Slapper


texts: What is the precise difference between "wince" / "flinch" / "grimace"?

texts:
Initially I started looking for the difference between winching and flinching and came to no real answer, as some sites defined the terms as synonymous with shirking away, then other searches resulted in wincing being described solely as a facial expression - followed by others saying this is totally false and that that's a grimace, without offering any real clarification.

From what I could piece together I came to the conclusion that: a) flinching is more subtle and doesn't necessarily have any facial expression b) wincing is similar, although accompanied by a visibly perturbed facial expression c) a grimace is only a facial shift, but one that's worse than a wince.

I'm not really sure if any of this is correct, however.

Also, I can't seem to find an exact explanation of how grimacing and wincing differ, or the exact situation one might be applied to (as some dictionaries said grimacing can be a sign of disapproval - which I don't see, but perhaps I'm exaggerating the expression in my mind). I always imagined grimacing as being a bit worse than wincing, perhaps an opening of the mouth up to the gums, while wincing would only be a few creases in the nose, or something - but again, if you Google the expression you'll get a variety of very pictures for both words, or worse, the same ones.

The weird thing is I can even think of books when these words were used interchangeably, which only adds to my confusion as a non-native speaker.

So to sum up, I really have two questions:

What are the exact differences between the three terms, and in what situations are they best applicable?
What's the difference between flinching and wincing as far as facial shifts go (assuming there are any)?


texts: What is the equivalent of "workholic" for the family-obsessed?

texts:
Is there an equivalent of "workaholic" (a person who feels compelled to work excessively) to describe a person who feels compelled to identify with raising a family in a similarly excessive fashion?
Note the emphasis on the word excessively, which means this word tends to have--just has workholic does--a connotation of disapproval.
The word doesn't have to be widely-used. I'm just looking for something precise.

To elaborate further, consider this conversation:

PETER (to an online community of software developers): What has been
your most rewarding job or project and why? I've been looking to make
a change away from typical enterprise development as it's not just
about the paycheck any more [...]
BOB: Raising my son. Playing music with my friends. Building a home
and relationships with my partners. [...]
DRETA (replying to Bob): How is any of this relevant to Peter's question?
SRID (supporting Dreta): I am with you. Comments like this (from BOB)
indicate nothing but a demonstration of the ad hockery defense of
familialism (Editor's note: is there a more accurate alternative word here?), which is increasingly becoming common here in this
community for some reason.
KIRO (supporting SRID): I've noticed the same trend. As someone who
never wants a family it's extremely tiring that the family-first
norm is pushed so hard here. It's the last place I would expect it
so I'm really curious why that is.

In fact, this is a real conversation from the thread I linked in the comments!
The word I'm looking for is an adjective that describes BOB, and the connotation of disapproval (inherent to the meaning of this word) comes from DRETA, SRID and KIRO.

BOB is such a ______.
The ______s have hijacked our programming topic, and began pushing their agenda again!


texts: What do "promise of tomorrow" and "rug merchant" mean?

texts:
Here is the main text including the questioned parts.
ps: this is a political statement.

As we proceed we cannot be gulled by promises of what will happen tomorrow—at bottom they really are rug merchants.


texts:
"The tiny seed hasn’t begun to grow yet.
It will be too late! Hurry!
But finally it too starts to grow into a plant. "

What does "too starts to" mean?


texts: What's the English equivalent of the Japanese saying, “A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest (bishop)”?

texts:
I was amused by the expression "Paid a penny and only farted" (related by @FumbleFingers), which suggested a similar Japanese saying: 大山鳴動鼠一匹 - "Find only a small mouse coming out after hearing rumblings and experiencing shaking of the big mountain."

It’s humorous. I chuckled when I read it, and I wrote to the author that I love it.

With that said, the word "fart" reminds me of another Japanese proverb, 百日の説法屁一つ- "A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest", which means that a small mistake (the sound of a fart in front of the congregation) brings all his efforts to naught.

It can’t happen in big Western churches. But it could well happen in a small wooden temple where a priest would preach to 30 – 50 provincial followers.
Can you imagine how the proud priest being called 'the venerable' would be embarrased when his loud fart is heard by all his followers during his serious sermon and they start to giggle here and there in the hall?

We also have a similar saying" 九仞の功を一簣に欠く, which literally means "Collapse a 9- meter sand tower with the last pile of sand."

What is the English equivalent of the saying "A fart ruins 100 days of sermons by the priest (bishop): a small mistake depreciates the value of (vitiates) all labor and effort to naught," preferably in such a humorous way?


texts:
When should I use is being in English?

For example, do you say "something is changed," or "something is being changed"?


texts: A name for all AA, NA, SA, ... Organizations/Communities?

texts:
There is this organization/fellowship/support community for alcoholics called
Alcoholics Anonymous. For sex or porn addiction, the organization/fellowship/support community is called Sexaholics Anonymous. And so there are similar organizations/fellowships/support communities for other forms of addictions.

What to say when we want to refer to this kind of organizations/fellowships/communities, and not to any particular one of them. Is there a name to be used for all of them. If not, what would you suggest to be used when we want to refer to all those but not just one of them.


texts: A relative clause with multiple prepositions

texts:
Is it correct to say:

Microbial biology is a field in which I am interested and for which I have passion."

What about:

Microbial biology is a field which I am interested in and I have passion for."


texts: Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc?

texts: When using an abbreviation or acronym that has a mix of lowercase and capital letters, such as mmWave or dBm, in a heading or line that is formatted in all caps, is it appropriate to use all caps - or should you leave the mixed caps?


texts: "Foos are menace" vs. "Foos are a menace"

texts:
One of my friends has this in one of his E-mail signatures: «"Kosher" Cellphones (cellphones with blocked SMS, video and Internet) are menace to the deaf.  They must be outlawed!».

Is this sentence correct or should it preferably be "a menace"? Comparing the Google results for "are a menace" vs. "are menace" and "is a menace" vs. "is menace" shows that the variations articulated with the "a" are much more common, and I also think an "a" is missing, but I'm not sure.


texts: Many Indian languages including Hindi(the language most spoken in India) owe their origin to Sanskrit.Similarly,is there any language which predated English and owes its origin?


texts: In Swedish there is a word "präktig" that can be used to describe a person that is annoyingly decent, reliable and good in every way. The common translation is "splendid" but that doesn't sound derogatory at all. "Pompous" is the closest I've come, but that is a character flaw and doesn't really fit. So is there an English word that can be used to describe a perfect person that also indicates that he/she is too perfect?


texts: Word describing the reversal of emotions

texts:
A boy is highly confident one day and
  the next day scared, timid and shy.

  A girl is emotional one day and
  emotionless the next.

Is there a term for a drastic switching of emotions?
A term for the switching to practically opposite emotions?

EDIT: Just to clarify the emotional changes are not rapid, and are permanent.  This rules out bi-polar, because bi-polar involves multiple periods of change.  I'm looking for a work to demonstrate the steepness or contrasts of change, but having no relationship to the speed of change.

Example:

  Over a course of 3 years a once quiet boy become the spokesmen of the school.


texts:
Today I saw a question How to nurture my child to be fearful?1, and the fearful in the title sounded too harsh to me. What could be used instead?

1 Now titled How to nurture my child to be cautious of her actions?


texts: "have to be moved" or "must be moved" or "must move"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “I have to” vs. “I must”

Which of these is correct?

  The camera have to be moved sideways instead of rotate to track the scene.

or

  The camera must be moved sideways instead of rotate to track the scene.

or

  The camera must move sideways instead of rotate to track the scene.

Should these read “instead of rotate” or "instead of rotation"?


texts: "To have a run upon it" from “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

texts:
Ref: A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

What does “To have a run upon it” mean in the following  sentence?

  “Tellson’s bank had a run upon it in the mail”


texts: A phrase or word meaning "thin rationale"

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to fill in the blank.

I feel like the president of the university had a ________ for demoting Mr. X.

The meaning I want to convey is "thin rationale". This might be the phrase I'm looking for, but it doesn't show up in a lot of search results.

What I mean is: A justification that might not hold up under scrutiny. A questionable justification for doing or saying something.

I hope I was clear, and I appreciate your feedback!


texts: Is there a word or name to call someone that gets called a name, yet uses the same name to call others?

texts:
Example, Jim calls Bob a alcoholic, because he is one, Bob drinks alcohol every day and excessively. Bob then starts calling Jim a alcoholic too, even though Jim has never touched a drink in his life.

What is a word/name/phrase that sums up someone like Bob?


texts:
Could you tell me which sounds natural?

I will finish it on the weekend.
I will finish it this weekend.

How does "this weekend" differ from "on the weekend?"

I heard that the time expressions which differ based on when it's spoken like tomorrow or today don't require preposition and that those which don't change like January or Sunday require "on," "in" and so on.

If it is true, is it possible to say "I'm going to Canada this January.


texts: "to get ubiquitous" or "to become ubiquitous" ...?

texts:
I want to write down a sentence to express the fact that from the 1980's on computers got applied in many facets of our daily lives ... and I am wondering what sentence would be correct:

"As computing got more and more ubiquitous in people's daily lives, ..."

or

"As computing became more and more ubiquitous in people's daily lives, ..."

EDIT (CONCLUSION):

Thank you for all the comments!
I have rebuilt the sentence as shown below:

"As computing started to become ubiquitous, affecting more and more aspects of people's daily lives, the demand for reliable programs that are proven to be correct increased"


texts: Beeing: Research in literature provides a confusing spelling, with one single «e». What is the correct spelling? I mean the gerund of the verb «to be».