texts: Variations in the pronunciation of "the"

texts:
Although there are rather simple rules determining the pronunciation of "the", native speakers quite often deviate from these rules (including, e.g., TV shows). According to the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary,

  The EFL learner is advised to use [ðə] before a consonant sound (the
  boy, the house), [ði] before a vowel sound (the egg, the hour). Native
  speakers, however, sometimes ignore this distribution, in particular
  by using [ðə] before a vowel (which is in turn usually reinforced by a
  preceding ʔ), or by using [ði:] in any
  environment, though especially before a hesitation pause. Furthermore,
  some speakers use stressed [ðə] as a strong form, rather than the
  usual [ði:].

My question is: when native speakers use [ðə] instead of [ði] before a vowel sound, do they do it on purpose or accidentally? If it is on purpose, how do they (typically) decide which pronunciation to use? What is a valid reason to use [ðə] before a vowel sound?


texts: Is it better to write 'I' or 'Me' for the name of a speaker in a dialogue?

texts:
What should I choose when I write a conversation? Should I write like this?

  I: How are you?

  John: Fine.

or like this?

  Me: How are you?

  John: Fine.


texts: Where exactly did the slang phrase "digging it" come from

texts:
I'm a young native english speaker raised in Canada. At school me and most of my friends tend to use the phrase "Im really digging this", as to mean i'm really enjoying a specific thing or activity. Where exactly did this come from?

I use it all the time in this context, but when I think about digging ( like digging a hole, or digging yourself into a mess) I can't really make sense of it in this context.

Ex:

"You play that new game that just came out?"

"Yeah bro, im really digging it!"


texts: Missing possessive ('s) in a phrase where I expected its use

texts:
I came upon this phrase in a Hilary Mantel's novel (Wolf Hall): "John Williamson is needed in the Cromwell business"

Why is the possessive form not being used for "Cromwell business".


texts:
What is the word or psychological term used for - "Start liking someone whom you hate as time passes, due to being forced to stay with them for long duration of time (say about 10 to 15 days)" - [Some situation like a girl starting to like the kidnapper after few 10 days of being kidnapped]

Please don't say the 4 letter "L" word :)


texts: discerning between "metaphor" and" symbol"

texts:
I am wondering if symbol and metaphor could be considered interchangeable-- And, when they cannot. Or, would you please show me an authoratative source?

Any comment or feed back would greatly be appreciated


texts:
For example, is the following sentence grammatically correct in terms of the usage of the article?

There was an s-t-r-e-e-t in London.


texts: What is an adjective for somone who displays ‘fake’ gravitas?

texts: Words like insincere, over-earnest, do not do justice to the type of word I need. Example sentence: The president of the company read his well crafted speech but it fell flat because of his obvious “———“.


texts: "with" in a sentence -- the "comitative case"?

texts:
What is/are the correct word order/s in sentences containing "with X" where  one variant is [the subject, together with X ...]?
Here are a few examples of what I have in mind:

I went to the cinema on Sunday with my mother.
I went to the cinema with my mother on Sunday.
With my mother I went to the cinema on Sunday.
I went, with my mother, to the cinema on Sunday.

My problem is that to my non-native ears all of these sound more or less okay (although 2. is a bit weird and 4. sounds a bit archaic). So is there a rule?
I've also found that this is supposed to be called an instance of the "comitative case" but haven't found any concise rules explaining usage so far.


texts: Why are these spellings pronounced "non phonetically?"

texts:
In Anglo English, the word ewe (female sheep) is pronounced "you," rather than, say, "e-weh."

Likewise, the surname Ewell, is pronounced "yule," rather than "e-well."

Why is that?


texts: What does it mean to qualify a statement or argument

texts: What does it mean by a statement being contestable? - (qualify a statement).


texts: You didn't miss me, right? (possible answer with correct use of English)

texts:
A)  No, I didn't miss you.

B)  Yes, I didn't miss you.

C)  No, I did miss you.

D)  Yes, I did miss you.

According to my common sense perfect answers can be C) and B) only, and reason behind it is-
"didn't" is used/asked in the question, so if the person answering the question agrees with the person asking the question he will probably say "Yes, I didn't miss you," and if he does not agree he should answer "No, I did miss you."

I have checked online everywhere and all four are treated as correct. So, just asking to the experts present here for their views on this, in any context of English language or usage.

EDIT1 : Actually i was hoping that the SPEAKER Of QUESTION can tweak the question to get the desired answers only( only (B), and (C) in my case).But, the English seems to be weak to me after reading all the answers and responses from the experts,as the SPEAKER OF ANSWER totally has the control of the responses and he can speak any of the all four answers A,B,C,D.

What if the question asked was :

Do you miss me a little?   OR
Did you miss me a little?    OR SIMPLY
Did you miss me?

I guess again all the previous answers A,B,C,D are correct. ;-)


texts: What verb should you put in front of "insurrection"?

texts:
I need a verb that goes before "insurrection" that means "to start an [insurrection]."
I first thought that it should be "do an insurrection", but it sounds weird to me. What verb better fit the place of "do"?


texts: What is a word that means "something that is commonly known, but not commonly talked about"?

texts:
For example, nobody likes to use the restroom after they take a shower because you slide around on the seat, but that's not something commonly talked about between persons.

Or the well understood, but un-discussed feeling you get when you feel a bug or something crawling on you before you fall asleep, even though you know it's not a bug, but just a sensation.

It could not be of English origin.


texts: What exactly is the meaning of the phrase "county courted"?

texts: I come across this phrase very rarely, most recently in a Wodehouse story. It seems to mean something like "brought as defendant before a county court", e.g., sued. Is there a more precise meaning? In Wodehouse it arises when a character fails to pay his bills and is county courted by his tailor, or something like that. Is a county court something like a small claims court? Can one be county courted for theft, for nonpayment of taxes, for speeding, for murder? What is the level of such a court in the hierarchy?


texts: Is it okay to say “Your explanation really solved my concerns"

texts: Is it okay to say “You explanation really solved my concerns"? What are other ways to express this? Thank you!


texts:
In the No Doubt song Oi to the World are the following words spoken:

He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins
But Oi to the world and everybody wins"

So what does the phrase mean? It seems to mean "screw them" in the first 2 instances, but that doesn't fit in with the last one.


texts: Is [sic] italicized in a quoted sentence that is italicized?

texts:
Is [sic] italicized in a quoted sentence that is italicized, and should I use [sic] after the word gonna?
"If we let you stay here, we're gonna [sic] get phone calls all night."
Or should it not be italicized?
"If we let you stay here, we're gonna [sic] get phone calls all night."
I found information about italicizing [sic] in quoted sentences that are not italicized, but I haven't found anything about having it the other way around.


texts: Equivalent english of Brazilian expression about trusting someone "by the mustache"?

texts:
In Brazilian Portuguese, we use the following expression:

  Fio do bigode (mustache wire/thread or mustache hair)

Here's what I found after researching:

  It consisted of a man giving as a warranty, for his word, a thread of
  his beard, usually removed from his mustache. Of controversial origin,
  mustache may have come from the old German expression pronounced in
  the oaths: "bi Gott", or "by God"

Example:

  O contrato entre as duas partes foi firmado pelo fio do bigode.

Which Google Translate readily translates to:

  The contract between the two parties was signed by the mustache.

The above expression means that both parties agreed to something without actually signing a written contract or equivalent. Basically, both parties trusted each other by the other's history/legacy/references/appearance/influence/promises or anything that might have transmitted confidence.

What would be an equivalent English expression?


texts: Isn't Twitter's error message incorrect?

texts:
One of Twitter's error messages reads:

  Something is technically wrong.

Of course I understand what they mean, but am I wrong to interpret this as "strictly speaking, there is something wrong" instead of the intended "there is a technical issue"?

What would be the ideal, succinct way to phrase this, maintaining simplicity and clarity?


texts:
founder2 (ODO)

  noun
  1 A person who establishes an institution or settlement.
      ‘he was the founder of modern Costa Rica’

An article on SO has the author's name followed by "Co-Founder (Former)". I am not quite sure if someone could cease to be a "founder," for whatever reasons. (emphasis mine)

meta:
The earlier post "What's a title for a founder no longer with a company? asks for an alternative while stressing on the fact that "a founder is always a founder."

I suspect most of the hits on Google search are either related to non-native speakers' writings or incidental proximity of the words rather than an intentional use of the phrase.

One may dissociate oneself from something after having founded it. Can someone cease to be a "founder"?


texts:
In the diary of Alistar Skinner, a young artist dying of colon cancer, as quoted by Sîan Ede on p. 150 of Art and Science, we read:

  Awake at dawn to go to the toilet, I hear the black birds singing in the quiet of the urban night and it is lovely. How does that fit into cost per square meter?

Does "How does that fit into cost per square meter?" mean:

How much will actually the birds' song cost per meter square

or

How can one actually measure the beautiful birds' song with soulless and ugly scales like cost per square?


texts: Why does "up" mean "into pieces" in "tear up"?

texts:
I looked up the Oxford dictionary,it says that "up" could mean "into pieces/apart",I want to know why.What do you native speakers feel when you say "up" in "tear up" or "rip up".
and there is an example sentence in Oxford dictionary:
They've had the road up to lay some pipes.
because as far as i could understand,up means upward,how could it mean "into piece",I don't understand.


texts:
Here is one of those things that I have simply never thought about until recently.

I have a friend who speaks English as a second language and so still has a few overhanging errors in his speech; One of these is to use 'potential' as follows:

  He is very potential.

When I corrected this for him, I told him that in that case we would use potential as a noun, "he has a lot of potential", for example.

However, confusion then ensued as we both know that potential is also an adjective, but as far as I am aware, can only be used as a pre-modifier: potential client, potential success, etc.

Is this a unique case? Is there a reason for it?

or

Am I wrong?


texts: Why is authentication not split into two different words

texts:
Yes, I know that there is already a thread about authentification here but anyway, in German we differ between the active process of authenticating our selves and the passive process of being authenticated.

The active part would be: we know something or we own something what we use to authenticate ourselfe to the server.
The passive part would be: the server validates the information and authenticates the user as an authentic user.

Any reason, why the different meanings are compressed into one word?


texts:
When we use the word 'such', is there a rule to dictate whether we need to add article a/an behind? For example:

  I did not expect such cold weather.

and

  I did not expect such a cold weather.

Another example I found is

  She has such a marvellous voice!

All three examples are in the such + adj + noun form, only difference is the article 'a'. I would like to find out if there are any rules or is merely a usage issue?


texts: What is the subject of "What should I do?"

texts:
The answer to the question is "I should do [what]", where I is clearly the subject.

Is that the right answer?  I keep thinking the answer should be "What", if only because it's first.


texts: Is there a word or phrase for "taking the long way around a square"?

texts:
A new apartment building is going up on our block, and the sidewalks are closed on that side of the block.  "Oh well," I told my wife, "we'll just have to...wait, I swear there's a phrase for traversing the other three sides of the square instead of just taking the straight-line route, but I'm not coming up with it..."

Am I crazy, or is there a phrase for taking a route like this around a square?

A  ->
+------+
|      | |
|      | v
+------+
B  <-


texts: Significance of the word 'a' in Neil Armstrong's speech

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

I read on the news today the world heard Neil Armstrong said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.".  But later, Neil Armstrong insisted that he actually said 'a man' but that the 'a' was not heard because of static.  So this begs the question "What is the difference between the 2 versions?"  Is the version that Neil Armstrong wanted the world to hear a grammatically correct one and the other one is not?


texts:
Can we modify the phrase “This drives me crazy....” and make it “As crazy as this drives me...” in the same way that “This makes me mad...” can be modified to become “As mad as this makes me...”?

Used in a sentence: “So now we’re stuck in the middle of a forest. As crazy as this drives me, we got to start building a shelter.”


texts: Is it ok to have a semicolon after a colon or em dash? (or other variations)

texts:
I've looked all over but have not found this example.

Can one use a semicolon after a colon or em-dash (or similar doubling up combinations). Is it a matter of style or is there a fast rule?

e.g.:

The quiet was interrupted by a clacking noise: a man was running down the street in his dress shoes; as he did, he repeatedly looked at his watch.
The quiet was interrupted by a clacking noise—a man was running down the street in his dress shoes; as he did, he repeatedly looked at his watch.
The quiet was interrupted by a clacking noise; a man was running down the street with three items: a book, a ball, and a bag.

These may not be the most elegant sentences as I'm just making them up now, and I know they can be rewritten, but is it acceptable according to respected writing style guides to "double up" punctuation like this?


texts: "Has started" versus "will have started"

texts:
Which one of the following sentences is grammatically better?

  I hope she has started doing that by then.
  I hope she will have started doing that by then.

Now, if I make it indirect, it will probably be:

  My hope is that she will have started doing that by then

...Which makes me think the second one might not be correct.

Also, is there any difference between American and British English usage?


texts:
I am wondering, can the word reality be used in a formal text?

For example can I say: "It has some application in reality". I mean "It has some application in real world problems".

By a formal text I mean a text that can be appeared in my thesis or paper.

I used that in my thesis and my professor said that it is not a formal word and I cannot use it in my thesis!


texts: What does the expression "for crying out loud" mean?

texts: What does the expression "for crying out loud" mean and where does it come from?


texts: What's a polite way to say I will not be working?

texts:
I want to let my co-workers know that I will not be working on a given day due to a national holiday.

However, just saying

  I will not be working Thursday, due to a national holiday

Feels a little awkward. Is this a correct phrase? Is there a better way to say it?


texts:
In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practise it much. In the every-day affairs of life it is more useful to reason forwards, and so the other comes to be neglected. There are fifty who can reason synthetically for one who can reason analytically.

What does the last sentence mean?

"Out of 51 people, only one can reason analytically."
"A person who reason analytically is a more valuable asset than 50 people who reason synthetically."


texts: Is there a good alternative to "low man on the totem pole"?

texts:
Since "low man on the totem pole" is potentially ambiguous (and is possibly offensive to some), are there any good alternative idioms to mean someone of low rank who gets stuck with undesirable things?

"Drawing the short straw" doesn't quite fit since that implies randomness.


texts: What is the question form of "used to do"?

texts:
What is the correct way to convert "used to do" into a question? Since I want to emphasize that the action is not on-going any more, so simple past tense is not a good idea here. Could I say "do xxx use to do" or "did xxx use to do"? Both sound weird to me.

If there is no way to do it. Do you suggest any other alternatives?


texts: Which adjective best describes a person who seeks complex ways of solving a simple problem?

texts: What adjective would best describe someone who seeks complex solutions to simple problems? For example, one who would design the tree-swing in any other of the ways described below except the last one.


texts: Use of "after" as preposition or conjunction

texts:
"Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday ruled out any troop withdrawal from the Siachen glacier after last week's avalanche claimed the lives of 10 soldiers."

Is the word "after" used as a preposition or a conjunction here?
How to do I determine whether "after" is a conjunction or a preposition? Is there any rule?


texts: Is the phrase "PM who have approved" correct?

texts:
PM who have approved

Is the phrase correct?

I think it should be "PM who has approved" (PM: Project Manager). Am I wrong?


texts: Multiple non-restrictive modifiers in one sentence

texts:
Consider the following sentence:
"I have not sent any further communication, since the email, to your office, so far."
Would both the phrases "since the email" and "to your office" be considered non-restrictive with respect to the main clause, so that there is no significant loss in meaning if they are deleted to interpret the sentence as follows:
"I have not sent any further communication so far."?
I believe this applies for single phrases with commas in a sentence, like:
"I have not sent any further communication, since the email, so far."
I wonder if it would apply in case of multiple phrases with commas as shown above, as well.


texts: Is there an adjective for "opportunistic" that lacks its connotation of amorality?

texts:
A real life example might be that when a flight attendant asks this type of person whether they want pretzels or crackers, they ask if they can have both. If they can't, it's no problem. They just like to probe and see what they can get if they want more than what seems to be available to them. There's an audaciousness about them in that many people wouldn't do that, but this person still has morals and doesn't necessarily lie or steal to get what they want.

These are my opinions, but opportunism ("opportunistic") implies a lack of morals and evokes thoughts of graft. Self-indulgence ("self-indulgent") implies excess, and maybe gluttony. Immoderation ("immoderate") has a similarly "sinful" tone.

Taking another path, the best antonymic phrase I can think of for this concept is abnegation, but it also seems to have a moral connotation (this time positive) of sacrifice and self-denial. An example sentence might say that "one who abnegates denies themselves of things they could otherwise possess, whereas a ____ person seeks to get things they may not have otherwise had if they didn't probe for them."

Is there an adjective for this type of person with a more neutral "feel" and definition? I have tried looking at definitions and synonyms of the words mentioned above (and others) in Merriam-Webster and through Google.


texts: As a nonnative speaker of English I was always taught in school that there are verbs that cannot be used in the continuous form, i.e.  the stative verbs. However, I've seen some stative verbs used in the continuous form in American English, especially the verbs wish, feel, hope, guess, love and like. Is using these stative verbs in the continuous form wrong? If it's not, what's the difference between using them in the simple and continuous forms?


texts: Inverted adjective in "in matters political"

texts:
In in matters political, one can notice the inversion of the standard adjective-noun order. Here's an example in context:

  political obligation is only one consideration among many in a
  determination in how we ought to act in matters political

I would have expected "in political matters." When can such construction be used? Is it fit to writing as well as speech, or would you rather say "in political matters" when in colloquial contexts?


texts: In The importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde, a man imagines a person by the name Bunbury, so another man calls that name absurd. Is it really? And why?


texts: How to pronounce %d in C programming language?

texts:
How do we pronounce %, in something like %d? Is it pronounced as:

per-cent d
mod d

or, is there some other accepted/generalized way?


texts: Good word for something physical that's inexplicable

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe something physical, something that you can tangibly and empirically feel, but cannot see, nor sense in any other way than touch, nor explain its imperceptibility. Does anyone have any ideas?

EDIT: If anyone can think of a single word for such a definition, that would be fantastic! :)


texts:
Why I'm asking
@Xanne asks "Does this really have to do with the English language?" Yes. I seek an English language verb. If you, dear reader, find it confusing that the following mentions another language, please imagine this other language is Martian and I'm just trying to describe in English a thing that happens on Mars, but is known to also occur on Earth.
There is a particular non-English language (actually a computer programming language), where one can write the instructions:
Basket-One    =  list   loaf, cabbage, pineapple ;
Basket-Two    =  list   Basket-One ;
Basket-Three  =  item   Basket-One ;

The result of writing (and "computing") this that:

Basket-One contains three items;

So does Basket-Two;

Basket-Three contains one item, the item Basket-One.

According to this programming language's documentation explaining this feature, Basket-Three contains just one item because the term item in item Basket-One ('item' in this context is unambiguously a technical term) has the effect of "itemizing" Basket-One.
This usage of "itemizing" occurs in what I consider an English prose context (tutorial documentation describing the programming language feature). But it seems like it has the exact opposite meaning to the English usage I'm familiar with. It's not clear if "itemizing" in this context is being used as a technical term or a regular English term, but either way, the goal of this question is to find a replacement English language word that doesn't have the weird characteristic of potentially/actually meaning the exact opposite of the technical meaning.
What I've found
Consider the two dictionary.com definitions of "itemize":
1. list the individual units or parts of

2. list as an item or separate part

I'm thinking that, assuming the verb's object is given in a singular form:

Definition #1 is about immediately individually listing the items within the item that's the object of the verb.

Definition #2 is about immediately listing only one item, the singular item that's the object off the verb.

Main Question

1. What's the best word for denoting "treat as a single item" in the specific context I describe?

To help clarify what I'm asking, I'll present some more questions. (If someone has time, I'd appreciate answers to some/all of these more detailed questions, but they are subsidiary to my formal question.)

Do most native English speakers recognize two (or more) meanings for "itemize"? Is one meaning dominant and the other(s) rare? What about non-native speakers?

Do you think I'm right about the meaning of the second dictionary.com definition?  If not, what is the meaning of the second definition?

Are there yet more definitions of "itemize" beyond the two that dictionary.com lists?

Am I right that the meaning of dictionary.com's second definition emerged from usage of "itemize" in instructions on US (or UK?) tax forms?

Does the second definition always imply that the first definition also applies to the composite object, just elsewhere than the immediate listing context?

Non-exhaustive candidate list
Assuming that English definitions of "itemize" contradict the usage I've covered in Why I'm asking, what do you think that better single word might best be:

itemify

itemate

item

individualize

singlify (a neologism I just made up)

scalarize

some-other-word?

"To emphasize the need to treat a potentially composite thing as a single item, when a common thing would be to treat that composite thing as the list of constituent items that comprise it, ________ it".

Thank you in advance for any and all answers or comments. :)


texts:
Thinking of how I've finally paid my loan, I told myself that from now on, I'll get extra "free cash" each month. But this idiom always made me curious. The fact that both words contradict each other gives it quite a comical effect, to which it is often used. How and when did the idiom "free cash" come to be?

EDIT: It seems one corner case is not addressed by the actual answers. if the terms is related to taking money from an ATM or taking a loan without interest, why does some comics or cartoon character use the idiom when finding some money that they didn't earn (i.e. found on the street, in the house of the neighbour, given as a reward,...). Unfortunately my foggy memory can't replace it in context.


texts: explanation for: to "playback" media content

texts: How come in English one talks about being able to "playback" media content, like music or movies, instead of just "play"? Why is -back added to the word? What is the origin of the expression?


texts:
Please help me to understand the meaning of the phrase in bold letters:

  I was not engaged to Mildred, but I lodged with her mother, and I sang duets with Mildred and gave her gloves when it would run to it, which was seldom. She was a dear, good girl, and I meant to marry her some day.

From 'Ebony Frame' by Edith Nesbit, 1893.


texts: How do you pronounce the double c in both the eccentricity of a conic section and the eccentricity of a person?

texts:
Every single maths and science teacher that I've ever had pronounces the eccentricity of a conic section without the hard c. My thoughts are that the eccentricity of a conic section is pronounced with an s sound like e+sent+ricity whereas the eccentricity of a person is with a ks sound like ek+sent+ricity.

Am I correct here? Can either of these words be pronounced both ways depending on dialect?

If you type eccentricity in Youtube you will notice that on average most native speakers do not use the hard c while most non-native speaker use the hard c. Listen to Conic Sections: Focus Directrix and Eccentricity (Youtube), 1:51.


texts:
“Look - there’s nothing mysterious - or scandalous - about this business - at least not so far as I'm concerned. It's a perfectly straightforward case, and as it happened more than eighteen months ago - nearly two years ago - obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl's suicide. Eh, Inspector?”

(You can read this on page 16 here)

Above is a quote from Mr Birling from the play An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley. I am analysing this quote; I wrote,

  Mr Birling strengthens his opinions by adding “perfectly” to “straightforward” (“It's a perfectly straightforward case,”) and “obviously” and “whatever” to “nothing” (“Obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl's suicide.").

Have I overused the word "and" in my analysis? Perhaps I can put a semicolon somewhere and take one of the 'and's out?


texts: What's different between pre in and into?

texts:
When I suffer on the facebook, I see a person uses the sentence "Cut lemon in half"
So, I wonder is it the same meaning as the sentence "cut lemon into half"
and what's exactly the meaning of sentence "cut an apple to half"?


texts: How to categorize "grrrr", "errhh", "argh",..?

texts:
What are these called in English?
Are they same thing as "Gosh" or "Gee"?
Maybe sounds of emotional changes?


texts:
We are providing an app which manages your finances — like a housekeeping book. Our space is limited; therefore, we want to use the slogan "Housekeeping App".
Would an English speaker know what is meant by that?


texts: A word for "mapping existing steps into a larger future plan that commences now"

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to mean: “mapping existing and ongoing steps into a larger future plan that commences now”.

I was thinking about "conforming execution" or "collapsing and initiating plan".
Is there a better word or phrase?


texts:
Is the difference between flotation and floatation a US/UK difference or something else?

I think I did see floatation in some physics book.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which is correct to say: “It's me” or “It's I”?

Tonight I watched a movie (The Gospel of John) in which Jesus said (as quoted from the written Gospel of John), "It is I."

How does this expression differ from "It is me?"


texts: Appreciation Email: in or with: Awesome work Mark [in/with] coordinating, planning and delivering the training

texts:
One of my reports in India trained a batch of new hires in Costa Rica recently. He has received great feedback from his trainees, for e.g.

Thank you very much Mark for all your support and your patience; for such amazing training.
Mark was great during the training. He was always ready to answer our questions and he was very patient with our doubts in general. I was very pleased with the training.

I want to send a short email to Sachin and the management team to appreciate his work.
This is my draft:
Awesome work Mark in coordinating, planning and delivering the training despite different shifts and time zones.
Thank you for your efforts.
I have 2 questions -

Should it be work in or work with coordinating....
I want to add a sentence where I highlight the feedback that he has received (in the email thread). How do I do this in a sentence?


texts: Word for a baby who was birthed by parents who were considerably older

texts:
A singular term for a baby who was birthed by parents who were considerably older (like 45 to 70)?

Apparently I'm being pressed to give a "sample sentence" so here it is...

"My third son John is not as smart as my first one Paul...maybe it's because he was a [???] baby"


texts: Is it "a spyglass TO the past" or "a spyglass INTO the past"

texts:
I'd like to use the phrase XYZ as a spyglass (in)to the past. as title for a publication on a scientific method that allows me to infer knowledge about the past from data available now. E.g., the comparison of two contemporary bacteria allows us to infer likely features of their ancestor, which cannot be investigated as it's extinct.

Would into or to be the correct word here, and maybe more importantly: why?


texts:
When Conservative is spelled with a capital C it usually refers to the Conservative and Unionist Party of Great Britain. Spelled with a small c, it becomes the adjective conservative meaning *averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values. People, in Britain at any rate will sometimes describe themselves as 'conservative with a small c'.

Similarly Catholic, spelled with a capital C usually refers to the Roman Catholic church, and/or its members. But spelled with a small c, it means: a wide variety of things; all embracing. So I may describe my taste in food as catholic meaning I am willing to try anything.

But whilst I have heard plenty of people describe their tastes as 'catholic', I have never heard anyone use the expression catholic with a small c.

Would it generally be understood and accepted into mainstream conversation if someone did. If not, what is the term, meaning 'all embracing', (apart, of course from 'all embracing').


texts: Which tense we have to use for the reported speech?

texts:
There is an exercise in Raymond Murphy's book on reported speech. In Exercise 48.1, all the answers have been given in past form. However, at Unit 48.A, there is written that

  It is not always necessary to change the verb in reported speech. If you report something and the situation hasn't changed, you do not need to change the verb to the past.


texts: Does a principal act upon a target, or does an agent act upon a patient?

texts:
In a software application, I have an access model that contains a set of data structures, each describing how a given entity may or may not act upon another given entity.  An "entity" is a person, a thing, or a group of people and/or things.

Alice may read mail sent to Bob.

Carol may not send messages to residents of Danville.

Everyone may connect to the public server.
(These are contrived examples only.  I am not writing a mail server.)

In each sentence above, we have:

an actor (Alice, Carol, everyone),
a permission (may, may not),
an action (read mail, send messages, connect), and
an object, either direct or indirect (Bob, residents of Danville, the public server).

A hallmark of quality, maintainable software code is clarity—that is, it should not only be easy to understand, but the intentions should be clear.  An important facet of this goal is that the names of things should make their functions obvious.  They should also be concise, because long, overly descriptive names are not only more effort to type, but also more effort to read.
What's more, the parlance must cater to the particular language quirks that are the jargon of the industry.  For example, the word "object" would be a poor choice here, because that word has an industry-specific meaning that would render it rather ambiguous in this context.
I'm therefore struggling with succinct names for the person or other entity who performs an action and for the person or other entity who/which is the recipient of said action.
The original terms I came up with were principal, as in "a chief actor or performer", and target, as in "one to be influenced or changed by an action or event."  It occurs to me, however, that the linguistic terms that most closely represent the concepts are agent and patient.
Going back to the subject of clarity, though, I'm not sure that these uses for "agent" and "patient" would be immediately understood by software developers, or indeed by most people without a background in linguistics.  I wonder, then, if the original words are clearer, and if perhaps there exists another pair of terms that would be an even better choices.


texts: Is 'sorted ascendingly' a valid expression?

texts: Can I use this expression in the sense of 'sorted in ascending order'? The context is programming: sorting a data-structure or results of a query.


texts: Is the phrase "man is mortal" grammatically correct?

texts:
Or, must it be "Every man is mortal"? How about "Tree is mortal"?

In another sense, "A detailed description of a man", "A detailed description of man" or "A detailed description of Man"?


texts: Is "dabble in" the proper word in this case?

texts:
I am writing my statement of purpose for my Ph.D. application. As you may or may not know, the candidates mainly elaborate on their research experience in the statement of purpose. My intended Ph.D. field is field_A, but I do have some experience in field_B, which I would also like to mention.

In such a case, can I say "I dabbled in field_B" and then elaborate on this experience? Will  "dabble in" here carry a negative connotation, something like "playing around"?


texts: I filed a VA claim for heart disease. My claim had a Ejection Fraction test which included the statement that my EF was "about 50%".  I filed a claim, as VA regulations state  EF  of 30-50% . The VA came back in letter and stated that about 50% can mean 50.1 or 50.01%  Websters has several different definitions, including about meaning almost. I have never heard of about 50% meaning MORE than 50% as the VA has stated.


texts: Adverbial conjunction with two independent clauses (U.S English)

texts:
Edit: This question is for U.S English as I know that coordinating conjunctions in British English don't need a comma.

After reading an article about adverbial conjunctions, I've noticed a peculiar thing when the adverbial conjunction was used to end a sentence.

 "We wanted to go on a picnic. The weather turned bad and we
 weren't able to go, however."

The last sentence have two independent clauses, so shouldn't there be a comma after the word "bad" as it's a run-on/comma splice?

Thank you.

Source:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/uofc/eduweb/grammar/course/speech/1_4c.htm

Edit source:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/linking-words-and-expressions/conjunctions


texts:
In George Orwell's 1984, Part 1 Chapter 5:

  Just once Winston caught a phrase -'complete and final elimination of
  Goldsteinism'- jerked out very rapidly and, as it seemed, all in one
  piece, like a line of type cast solid.

I googled a lot, but still cannot understand "a line of type cast solid".


texts: Why un-grammatical if no action verb precedes "in response to"?

texts:
What "verb" must precede in response to? Why in response to incorrect "without a verb"? I think authors made mistake, because "were" IS  a verb? Just not ACTION verb?

response, as in in response to. This phrase is often used incorrectly without a verb, as in the following sentences: The regulations were in response to the problem created by lack of definitions. Rather, state that the regulations were enacted to resolve the problem. Board Letter No. 829 was in response to an inquiry about disclosure of a security interest in all after-acquired property. Rather, state that the letter addressed disclosure of a security interest.

Bahrych, Merino. Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell 5th edition (2017). 375.


texts: How can I avoid a preposition at the end of a clause

texts:
I want to say:

Thank you to all of you who have supported me and to whom I have had the pleasure to learn so much from.

Is the correct version:

Thank you to all of you who have supported me and from whom I have had the pleasure to learn so much.

Thank you.


texts: Is the sentence, "I wrote him," grammatically correct?

texts: I am wondering if the sentence I wrote him. is grammatically correct. Can I wrote him. take the place of I wrote him a letter. and/or I wrote to him.? Can one omit the preposition to? Can one omit the (what I think is) the direct object a letter?


texts:
When a subordinate clause establishes time, do you have the option of using or not using the past perfect in the main clause?

When he called her, he said nothing about quitting his job.

When he called her, he had said nothing about quitting his job.

To address FumbleFingers's comment, here's more context.

He glanced away at the pale blue sky. When he called her, he said nothing about quitting his job. He let her think he was meeting her on his lunch break.

If the narrative were put in the present, only the first sentence would change: He glances away at the pale blue sky. When . . .


texts: Can the verb 'judge' collocate with 'of'?

texts:
I saw this sentence in an essay:

  Children’s cognitive development is on the preoperational stage, so they cannot consider as logical and judge of dangerous events.

I would say "judge sth" or "judge sth on sth" but never heard of "judge of sth" (where judge is a verb and not a noun), so I looked up on some dictionaries and the internet but could not find reliable sources.

If this is a legit usage of judge as a verb, can you explain and give some examples?

And I also want to ask about the phrase “as logical” in the above sentence but that would be another question. But I don't mind if you also explain this :) I don't quite get it. Does it mean “as logical as adult” or simply “logically”, or is it wrong?


texts: A synonym for the expression "most used"

texts: Since most expressions starting with most "insert adjective" have a substitute, e.g. most pretty turns into prettiest, or most strong turns into strongest, is there a substitute as well for most used?


texts:
According to Longman online dictionary, if "registration" refers to "act of recording names and details on an official list", it is an uncountable noun. An example by the dictionary is: "the registration of motor vehicles".

My question is if I have done registration more than 1 time, can I use the plural noun "registrations". For example, I registered Car A in 2016 and registered Car B in 2017, can I say: I did two registrations in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Is the use of "two registrations" correct?


texts:
I read an experience letter which said

  "So and so" person has worked from "date1" till "date2".

Is it okay? Or should it be like this?

  "So and so" person has worked from "date1" to "date2".


texts: There is a good feeling you get when your curiosity is satisfied, especially if is about a question you found interesting or important, or have spent a lot of time and energy trying to answer. Depending on how much I wanted to know, this feeling can be quite pleasing. Is there a word specifically for either the satisfaction of a curiosity, or the feeling that results?


texts: What's the difference between e.g. "room 5" and "number 5"?

texts:
Is it correct to use the word ‘number’ meaning "hotel room'?

Thanks in advance.


texts: (allegedly) ungrammatical preposition stranding

texts:
Certain types of preposition-stranding are considered by some linguists to be "ungrammatical" in English, even though they do not seem remotely strange to me (an English speaker). I'm not talking about prescriptive prohibitions on all preposition stranding, but about allegedly ungrammatical subtypes of stranding.

For example, I recall hearing that the following kind of sentence with "of" is seen as ungrammatical:

He knows what country Brazzaville is the capital of.

I have also seen it claimed that you cannot strand prepositions after an indirect object:

What did you talk to John about?

Am I right that many linguists see these types of constructions as questionable? If so, why are they seen as such, when they seem so completely unexceptional to me and (I would venture to say) a great many of my English-speaking peers?

Thanks for any help


texts: Where should 'often' be placed in a negative sentence?

texts:
They often don't know how to react to compliments.

or

They don't often know how to react to compliments.

Which sentence is correct?


texts: Is there an adjective meaning a more/less uneven aspect ratio?

texts: I'm looking for an adjective for whether a shape is as wide as it is tall, i.e, is a rectangle or ellipses, vs a square or circle. "Rectangular" and the like usually refer to an object's sharp/round angles, not its width/length ratio. Right now I'm getting by making comparisons along one axis ("foo is thinner", "bar's height [which is greater than its width] imports a sense of length to car [which is associated with bar]") but it's not clear I'm talking about relative length, or that only foo is a regular/even/1:1AR shape. Is there a direct way to refer to and compare aspect ratios?


texts:
My boss stated that he noticed the word "weight" is used to refer to the boldness of a character, and stated that he felt this was a new occurrence.

My gut feeling is that this is an old term, derived from the typesetting industry and made popular with the advent of personal computers, desktop and web publishing.  I also suspect that the term had something to do with the physical weight of typeset letters, but this is just a supposition.

While Google's n-gram viewer shows a massive increase in "font weight" usage starting around 1985 (which corresponds to the usage spike of the term "desktop publishing"), there were smaller spikes around 1830 and 1932.

A search for the etymology of the use of weight in regards to the darkness of the typeface revealed nothing.

Does anyone know the source of this phrase?


texts: where did word "ballistic/ballista" originate from?

texts:
Cubic is the adjective form of the noun cube.

Where did the adjective ballistic originate? Is ballistic the adjective form of ball?

The word ballista means a catapult. Is this because the launched items were balls? Or there is another reason?


texts:
What is a word that means "to make profound"?
For example,

This onion will [infinitive] the stock.
These colors [3rd person plural] the painting.

Deepen doesn't quite cut it, and I can't use the imaginary words "profund-ize" or "profund-iate" in a formal setting.
Any suggestions?


texts: Word for person always after what he does not have and not cherishing what he has

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Term for “constantly unsatisfied soul”

Is there a word for a person who is always after what he does not have and does not cherish what he has? If not, any idiom or phrase?


texts: Is the correct usage of “Diagnose (verb)” losing its ground?

texts:
In spite of many references on the correct usage of ”Diagnose”,  usage of passive construction followed by a with-phrase – e.g. “The patient was diagnosed with cancer” — and usage of patient as object of this verb –e.g.  “She helped with his story to raise awareness about Chiari, especially so doctor could diagnoses its victims earlier” are what I find in today’s media.

So, I am start to wonder : Is the correct usage of ”Diagnose” losing its ground ?

Correct usage (as being sescribed )

From Bryan A. Garner's Garner's Modern American Usage 2nd Ed.

  to identify, esp. a disease or problem.
  Strictly speaking, it is the disease or problem
  that is diagnosed, e.g.: "Eichelman went to
  the doctor, who didn't diagnose the broken bone
  and told the swimmer he would be back in the
  pool in a few days." Jason L. Young, "Senior Is
  Eager to Make Up for Lost Season," Indianapolis
  Star, 7 Dec. 2002, at S4.

From R.W Burchfield's The New Fowler's Modern English Usage 3rd Ed.

  Properly used to mean 'to
  make a diagnosis of (a disease, a mechanical
  fault, etc.)' (he was able to diagnose the
  fault at once), but now often used with a
  person as object (a baby who was incorrectly
  diagnosed as having died before birth, only
  to be delivered alive, but paralysed, 17 hours
  later-T. Stuttaford, 1990).

Defination from dictionaries :

Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Ed.

  To make a diagnosis of (a disease), to distinguish and determine its nature from its symptoms; to recognize and identify by careful observation.

Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 6th Ed.

  1.Make a diagnosis of, infer the presence of (a particular disease etc.) from symptoms.
  2.Ascertain the condition of (a person etc.) by diagnosis. E20.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 3rd Ed.

  to recognize and name the exact character of a disease or a problem, by examining it_

Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th Ed.

  make a diagnosis of (an illness or other problem). identify the medical condition of (someone)_


texts: Distinguishing between my cousin's kids and my second cousin's parents

texts:
Both of these are considered my "first cousin once removed". I not a fan of this ambiguity, and I don't like to explain relations in compounded terms (i.e. "my mother's brother" when the term "uncle" exists).

Is there an easier way to explain this difference without having to say "my cousin's son, not my second cousin's father?

I feel like the "once removed" being able to travel both directions in the ancestral chain is what causes this problem. If English had a term like "once added" to go down the chain, and changed "once removed" to only go up the chain, this issue wouldn't exist.

Does what I'm trying to describe exist?


texts:
I have to use a particular sentence which is:

They differ at at least one position.

Is this the correct use of at least? Is my sentence correct?


texts:
I sometimes lurk on "AskReddit" and when people are telling stories, they often read like this:

"After I would cook dinner for us, we would sit at the large dining room table and he would make a point to ..." (Source)

or

"I was told a story once about a lady who [...] painted pictures that would reflect her depression. Her paintings would sell for a lot of money." (Source)

I always wonder about the usage of "would". As I have been thought in school, would is a modal verb that indicates a subjunctive. I never heard about the usage of "would" instead of "used to" before, although for instance this site claims:  "Would can be used to talk about actions that repeated in the past. It is used in the same context as used to".

So my questions are:

Is this a regional thing or do all native speakers use this form?
How common is this? In which context can this substitution be used?
Does it sound colloquial or strange to native speakers?


texts: Is there a term for the name of the country in country's language?

texts:
Is there a single word or term for the country name (either official or short name) in the language of that country?

For example, Germany is called Deutschland (short name) or Bundesrepublik Deutschland (official name) in German. Is there a special name for it?

Of course, I could say: "Country name of Germany in German" but if I want to make "a list of country names (in?)" such word/term would be very handy.


texts:
I would like to say that a process happens two times a day, should I say:

a twice-daily process
a bi-daily process
a bidaily process
?


texts: Difference between "flavourful" and "flavoursome"?

texts:
What is the difference between flavourful and flavoursome?

I was reading a packet of raisins, which described the raisins as flavourful. I didn't recognise that word. Is it less common than flavoursome?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary just lists them both as adjectives, without elucidating further.


texts: Will the word 'schadenfreude' be understood in an English text?

texts:
In the context of a creative work, can I use the word 'schadenfreude'? For example:

  I experienced immense schadenfreude when my friend slipped on a banana peel.

Will it be understood by a general audience (perhaps not children, but the majority of adults)? If there is no equivalent word in English, is it acceptable to use words from other languages, or would the phrase be significantly better understood with the use of an English definition? Such as:

  I experienced immense pleasure in the misfortune of others when my friend slipped on a banana peel.

To me, this is rather inelegant compared to the first.


texts: In Canada, does the expression "I'll pick up your slack" have negative, derogatory or positive connotation?

texts:
I was speaking to a native Canadian when he told me during a video game progress:

  "I'll pick up the slack"

I got upset with him because I know that slack has a negative connotation which means he was being offensive to me.
However, he said that:

  "Seeing you're not a native and I am, you don't know better the
  expressions we use here and their intent."

(even though I have a Bachelor's degree and he doesn't).

Aside from him pulling a red herring's argument, he's not being very clear about this. Further, he said:

  "When Canadians say 'I'm picking up your slack' they mean it in an
  innocent, positive way. They mean that they're just going to pick up the work
  that's left to be done".

According to him I'm wrong and I don't have a right to argue because I don't live there like he does and I 'just have book smarts' (which we all know isn't true because a degree teaches you critical thinking), so I apparently wouldn't know the English language and their expressions better than him.

"I'll pick up the slack" apparently means "I'll do the work that's left to be done" and has nothing to do with me or the fact that I'm slacking. He even said: "I wasn't calling you a slacker". I'm sorry but it doesn't sound logical at all. Doesn't it imply that I was slacking? In this context we were on a team, fighting a game enemy. So if he was being productive in the game and he wasn't referring to his own slack - and I was the only one falling behind - surely he was implying my slack?

I would like to debunk this. Is he right? Am I wrong? Could someone please clarify this?


texts: Expressions for "a wish dedicated to one self"

texts:
I was translating a short story about a mortician (someone who does makeup for the dead) when I came across an idea I don't know how to express. In the story, the protagonist was talking about her dying wishes, one of which was that her apprentice would be the one to embalm her when she dies. Apparently, this was the only wish that was "dedicated" to herself, others were probably "dedicated" to others e.g. having her dog taken care of after she dies. I ended up writing:

  She said, “When I go, you must be the one who does my makeup. Don’t let any stranger touch my body.” That was her only wish dedicated to herself.

But it doesn't feel right to me. "Dedicated" doesn't seem to be the appropriate word and the sentence is clumsy. Are there better ways to express the idea?


texts: Does it sounds odd to say “Can I know the price?”


texts: Wondering if I could get some advice. Should I capitalize the 'f' in British football? Any advice? Thank you


texts:
Which sentence is correct?

If I could, I would find a hint which helps me.
If I could, I would find a hint which would help me.


texts: Can I say this "your ... is impressive" to my professor?

texts:
I am writing an email request for a reference letter to one of my professors. I would like to address her kindness in my email because she was always very patient when I asked her questions.
My question is 'Can I write something like "Your gracious and kindness is impressive"?' My concern is, 'Should the word "impressive" be only used when speaking to an academic subordinate?' When speaking to an academic superior, for example my professor, does the word "impressive" feel disrespectful?
This is probably a stupid question because English is not my native language, but I really do not want to take the risk of offending my professor.
Thanks!


texts:
In India, at least in the Southern part, there is a phrase "Top tucker" used to compliment/attribute someone for their exceptional qualities/achievements in a colloquial way.

The entry Tucker in OED says:

  Noun
  1. historical A piece of lace or linen worn in or around the top of a bodice or as an insert at the front of a low-cut dress
  [ Early 19th century: derivative of British English slang tuck 'consume food or drink']
  2. [mass noun] Australian /NZ informal
  Food

  Verb
  [with object] (usually be tuckered out) North American informal
  Exhaust; wear out

And etymonline.com points tukere to the origin but I am clueless on what tukere meant/was. Google didn't show up any relevant results...

  tucker(n.)
  "piece of lace worn around the neck," 1680s, agent noun from tuck
  (v.). In Middle English tukere was "one who dresses or finishes
  cloth," hence the surname.

  tucker(v.)
  "to tire, weary," 1833, New England slang, of uncertain origin, perhaps from >tucked (past participle of tuck (v.)), which had, in reference to dogs, a >slang sense of "exhausted, underfed." Especially with out. Related: >Tuckered; tuckering.

And a search for top tucker brought up an old TV show titled Top Tucker starring a famous comedian portrayed as an ignorant rural youngster who later develops himself to cope up with the cunning environment and hence the title Top Tucker I believe. No other comments/reviews of this show either...

This was all I could get my hands on and I hope this is not off topic or too specific to ask for the origin of this peculiar usage of the phrase. My bets are on tucker which probably was common to indicate rich/high class individuals and this found its way to Indian languages during British colonisation as was the case with many other words commonly used every day...

Updates

I was editing my post to add few (major) points I missed and while I was at it, I thought could compile few (mis?)leads from comments to make it easier for new visitors.

From Comments to the post:
Apparently it is also prevalent in parts of US in context of food, features in a famous Australian song(tucker-bag: a bag to carry food) "Waltzing Matilda", "Top tucker" was used in context of exclamation by Charles Hamilton a.k.a Frank Richards in his novels. Also, Tucker Car Corporation headed by Preston Tucker was famous in the US after WWII.

History&Genealogy
Interestingly the Tuckers native to Great Britain, held key positions that influenced India during British East India company and the British Crown, Josiah(protested against the British East India company), Frederick (Top official in Salvation army, worked with several criminal tribes to reform them) , and Henry St George(look into his link) to name a few I suspect would have impacted the Indians.

Last update, a survey for "top tucker" I posted on G+ isn't making any progress :P

Hope this helps.


texts: Agreement (after "each person") with 'has/have' in "each person 'has' their own ..."

texts:
In a blog in Harvard Business Review, David Franke writes:

  After all, each person has their own ego, personal goals, aspirations and agendas; there is always going to be a need for compromise, negotiation, and politicking.

Does the subject agree with the verb here?


texts: We will and we have in the same sentence

texts:
Trying to write a sentence as follows:

  Of course, we will, and have already, try to respond promptly.

My problem is connecting the word try with we will and have already.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you


texts: "Hardest part of" vs. "hardest part about"

texts:
Is there a major difference between the two? I'm sure they're both equally acceptable. For instance:

  "The hardest part of travelling is..."

or

  "The hardest part about travelling is..."


texts:
I am a new student to learn English. But I can't make
sentence good enough. So suggest me please, how can I .


texts:
Is there a word in English (perhaps but not necessarily in medical jargon) to describe the disconnection between two related bodily perceptions, e.g.:

to feel tired, but not sleepy
to be hungry, but to have no appetite

Many thanks


texts:
The controversial law will also bar hate speech and harassment.

What does it mean in the example above?


texts:
I'm not sure how to punctuate the following sentence:

  Besides the managers, Pete, John and Eric, also the secretary, Mary, came along to the meeting.

I think I messed up completely with comma usage. My ideas to fix it are the following

Besides the managers (Pete, John and Eric), also the secretary (Mary) came along to the meeting.
Besides the managers -Pete, John and Eric- also the secretary -Mary- came along to the meeting.

The first one looks good, but I have the feeling that the parenthesis disrupts the flow of the reading. The second one looks not very slick.

What do you suggest as punctuation for this sentence?


texts: What is the meaning of 'compl.' in 'compl. steel'

texts:
I've encountered the term 'compl. steel' in a document (related to mechanical engineering). Simple googling of the term shows many pages related to mechanical engineering and metalworks, but it doesn't seem any of them expand the word 'compl.'.
The search relates this term with 'complex phase', as can be seen here and here. But I don't think this is correct.
I know one thread in this forum that talks about 'compl.' as 'complement' but I cannot be fully sure if this is the correct meaning.


texts:
What is the word for the phenomenon where a person's brain stops
recognizing the initial smell of something?

For example – the initial smell of one's own "constitutional duty." That smell will be recognized by that person for only a moment or two.

The word is very specific to "smells."
It is a word I learned, but forgot, in a hazardous materials training class.
It is more of a scientific type word than a generic type word such as "adjust."


texts:
If it has happened, it would have been horrible.
If it had happened, it would have been horrible.

Are both correct? Can I use "has" and "would have been" like this?


texts:
Which is correct to say

 1. "Look , The situation was like that..." or "See, The situation was
    like that ....".

 2. "Look , I am not involved in it..." or "See, I am not involved in
        it ....".

Or are  both correct in every context?


texts: Is English considered easier to learn than most of the other languages in the world?

texts: In comparison to the other languages, I think English is much more simpler. For example, compared to French, English nouns have no gender, adjectives have only one form and verbs have extremely simple conjugations.  I'm wondering if there is a historical reason behind it. Has there been any scholarly research about the relative ease of learning the world's major languages, and if so, how does English compare to the others?


texts:
One of my American friends told me that 'He is a gay' or 'He is an American' is a rather rude expression. She said that 'He is gay' or 'He is American' is better. She could not explain why but guessed that a/an in front of adjective brings about a feeling of specifying or judging.
Could anyone help me on this?


texts: What's the difference between "suasive" and "persuasive"?

texts: What's the difference in usage between suasive and persuasive?  I just read the former used, here on this StackExchange, where the latter would have worked perfectly, IMO.  Is there a subtle distinction between the two words?  Can anyone give me an example where using suasive would be compellingly better than using persuasive? And finally, as I'd never seen the word suasive before today, does that mean suasive is archaic, or just used in a particular context?


texts: He/she “can’t” or “couldn’t” be with us today?

texts:
I have often heard the phrase “He couldn’t be with us today”.

However, this seems contradictory because “today” is in the present, but “couldn’t” is past tense (or subjunctive, but the sentence is clearly not in the subjunctive).

So which of the following is correct?

He is very ill, so he couldn’t be with us today.
He is very ill, so he can’t be with us today.


texts: Word for something used to show a distinction? Metaphor maybe?

texts:
In the phrase:

  From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me

The corpse is symbolic and the mirror creates a distinction between his physical self and his perceived self.

IS there a word for this? I'm thinking metaphor?


texts: A synonym for the word "die" in the hateful meaning

texts:
Is there a synonym for the word "die" in the hateful meaning? To describe that speaker not only wants somebody's death but also it to be shameful and agonizing.
something like "to die like a dog" in one word.


texts: Which is more grammatically correct - "performance in" or "performance on"?

texts:
Which of the following is more grammatically correct?

a. John's performance on the test shocked the teacher.

(or)

b. John's performance in the test shocked the teacher.


texts:
This question came to my mind, while working with StackOverflow. Whenever a solution to a question is posted, I usually see people writing:
"It's working for me".
I somehow do not like this expression. It also forces me to think, whether it is a grammatically correct expression?

I personally would write:
"It's working in my case".


texts:
From MSABC TV show 'community' season 1

  Hi, Senor Chang.
    What, a community college Spanish teacher can't use 80 bucks?

'Use' here seems should mean 'earn', Because the teacher here is a model and He will be paid 80 bucks.


texts: Can "whence" be used to imply causation?

texts:
In mathematics literature, one often talks about implications and inferences. Several times I have seen "whence" used for this purpose. For instance:

"Aristotle is a human, whence Aristotle is mortal."

It's certaninly not common, and it's probably either archaic or used in an attempt to imitate the native language of the author.
Is this usage actually correct? I'm not a native speaker, and having consulted dictionaries I'm still not quite sure.


texts: Plural or singular subject-verb agreement

texts:
My question is in regards to the sentence below:

Take advantage of free editing tools like Grammarly, which helps pinpoint small typos, or Hemmingway App, which shows you how to increase readability.

Would it be "which helps/which shows" or "which help/which show"?
I'm leaning towards the former (as written in the sentence), but am wondering if it might be the latter, considering I'm talking about "free editing tools," plural.


texts: Why do we say "well-read" instead of "well-reading"?

texts:
I have a question about the form of "well-read." Why don't we say "well-reading" instead? We people read, but not are read. There are many examples of "people are well read" online, but I wonder whether it comes from.  Another phrase is "short-lived" love. Why do you say that? Is there a way to explain these two phrases in the term of grammar? Thanks in advance.

Gloria


texts: Vulgar slang equivalent to "Breaking someone's balls"

texts:
I need some context before making my question.

Context:

I was in a pub yesterday and together with a friend of mine we were practicing English (we are in the UK). Between the two of us I'm the one who knows English better , so basically I'm trying to teach him what I know (which is not that great but it's still a starting point). He's a very beginner so such "sessions" are his very first conversations in English and therefore he often struggles.

Question:

At the end of the evening he wanted to ask me whether he was "annoying/bothering" me because of such conversations (because he thinks I get very tired and it could be too much of an effort) and he used the expression "Am I breaking your balls?", in our language such expression (vulgar slang) is actually used to point out that something is annoying/frustrating/nagging etc.

I don't think such an expression is used in English, is there any equivalent (vulgar slang) for the same thing?

I've seen (but never heard actually) something like "get on someone tits" or "busting someone's balls", but I do not think they're actually very common here.

So the context is basically two guys, very close to each other so everything can be said without being afraid to be particularly offensive etc, one of which is very frustrated.

What would have probably said an actual English guy?


texts:
I am writing a handbook of information of persons of note. While most of it is straight forward and standardised content that all persons share, for example date of birth, periods of service and the like. Most of this content would be limited to a page.

However, I would like to include an unstructured section for information that is specific to that person and may not be shared. For example, important dates or notable events, relations to other persons and so on.

In the general context this is "trivia" but this implies an informal note, and people may be tempted to fill it with information not appropriate for the book. Spouses names, hometowns and so on.

What is a formal term for "trivia" that most people would understand?


texts:
I had a teacher in high school who spoke like that, and an elderly neighbor: both women. When I first read Tom Wolfe's novel A Man in Full, I ran across this passage:

  "You must be Mr. DeCyasi," she said, extending her hand. "I'm Louise Gyardner."
  At first Conrad had taken it to be a speech defect. In fact, as he soon deduced, it was an affectation, and a minor one at that.

So it's an affectation. Fine. Who would teach people (young women?) to speak like that and why?


texts: Is domain-specific meaning acceptable/advisable when used in a document directed outside the domain?

texts:
Here's the problem. Many common terms in the programmer's lexicon--i.e., used in information communication and in published texts--are identical to everyday words; others are slight 'distortions' of everyday words (so that if you saw them but weren't a programmer, you'd swear they were misspelled or used incorrectly). It's this latter category that's the focus of my question. Some examples:

persist (a verb, e.g., you 'persist' data by writing it to a RDBMS);
instantiate (invoke a function which creates an object bound to a
variable);
deprecate (e.g., replace an old feature with a new one, and leave the
old feature in the language temporarily to preserve backwards-compatability)

A colleague and i recently finished writing a book largely directed to programming though the intended audience is mostly (but not exclusively) non-programmers (for instance, marketing managers and other people who often wear ties).

Our editor does not like words like these in the text.

In particular, she feels strongly that terms like the ones i just recited should be replaced with a short descriptive phrase that's more consonant with the conventional business lexicon.

We argue that fidelity to the language of the relevant community is what's most important--i.e., most of the concept we are trying to explain in the book are embodied in these specialist terms, and if the reader doesn't learn those terms then the book will have very little if any practical significance for them because they won't be able to communicate with the specialists who are required to implement the systems described in the book.  In addition, we contend that by providing a glossary or endnotes, the reader can easily absorb the unfamiliar terminology.

Arguing from the details though doesn't appear ever likely to persuade either 'side,' and so I would very much appreciate the higher-level views from this community.


texts:
I found the term beaver blade used in veterinary article.

Could you please explain why the blade is called beaver blade: is it related to an animal, or something else? How does it related to the shape of the blade?

Update

I am not sure it is brand related issue; look at this non medical picture—

For those thinking it is branding/off-topic  look at this link and picture of BEAVER KNIFE.


texts:
I need to express this phrase as a short compound to be used as programming variable name (this phrase is in the context of a software user interface):

  the block showing current chatters

I have the following options:

Current Chatter Block
Current Chatters' Block

Which option would carry better sense? Option 1 is shorter but it doesn't seem to carry the correct meaning as the block contains a list of multiple chatter names, not just only 1 chatter name.

However, the second option when written as variable name, it would be: Current_Chatters_Block, this comes without the apostrophe, does it look ok?


texts:
I am wondering :
I work in a hospital or I work in the hospital ?
She works on a plane or she works on the plane ?
thanks


texts:
I am reading The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. In it, there is a quote:

Baley hitched his jacket back [...] so that his blaster butt was
ready for snatching.

It isn't very clear where the blaster is on Baley's body, so I can think of two possible meanings of hitching back here:

The blaster is at his waist, meaning he moves the bottom of his jacket back so his hands can reach his waist.

The blaster is near his chest or in his jacket, meaning he opens the top of his jacket a bit so he can readily pull it out (think a secret agent pulling their pistol out of their trenchcoat).

What does hitching back mean in this context?


texts: What do we call "down" in this sentence?

texts:
"I have fallen down."
I thought adjective at first, but it isn't really an adjective right? Because it doesn't really modify me, it modifies how I fell? So it is modifying the verb.


texts: Is the voicing voiceless consonants common in the US?

texts:
I don't know if I should trust my non-native ears, but I've heard a couple of people (Katie from CollegeHumor is the first one come to mind) who say "thank you" with a voiced "th" instead of the proper voiceless one. Also quite a couple of people seem to have said "princible" instead of "principle" (like those guys from Corridor I think). I don't remember the exact videos where they say those words for demonstration, though.

So do Americans often voice their voiceless consonant if at all? Discounting intervocalic voicing which is more of a historical thing that happened centuries ago ("knives, clothes, Stephen"), this seems counter-intuitive to me, because it's more natural to devoice voiced consants, especially at utterance boundaries or if that consonant is next to a voiceless one (e.g., "slide" + a pause, in which /l/ is slightly devoiced because of /s/ and /d/ slightly so because of the following pause). Also discounting the North American tapped /t/.


texts:
I am writing the final project and have a question where I have to use capital or small letter?

  1) Substituting Equations 1, 2 and 3 into 4, we get....

Should be Equations or equations? What is the best option?


texts: Why is this sentence: "Additional nine features were added…" incorrect?

texts:
I am trying to explain to a colleague why the sentence:

  Additional nine features were added to the dig

is incorrect.

I have said you can say "An additional nine features...", "Nine additional features..." instead, but they would like an explanation as of why.

I cannot think of how to explain the grammatical proof of why this is. She says she was taught never to use an article with a plural noun, I was trying to explain that this was not the case here.

Can anyone help explain this in terms of grammar.


texts:
I want to know if it is correct to say:

“The kind of contempt sex workers receive from society ...”

I mean we usually say, “the kind of respect he earned ...”

I believe “earn” would not be right choice for abuse, contempt, or disgust. So is it fine to use “receive” here?

Thanks


texts: A lot of boys was/were waiting for his/their turn/turns

texts:
Which one is correct?

A lot of boys was waiting for their turns.
A lot of boys were waiting for their turns.
A lot of boys was waiting for his turn.


texts:
I know that the expression "to measure something quantitatively" is commonly used, especially in contexts that refer to things that are not conventionally quantifiable. For example, when discussing how to develop metrics for expressing customer satisfaction numerically. I am, however, wondering about this usage in technical writing.

I am editing a paper that describes a chemical test procedure, in which the author has written “the technician should quantitatively measure the concentration of metal ions in the test chemical solution prior to performing the next step.”

Now, this doesn’t strike me as wrong, but I can’t help wondering if the adverb quantitatively serves any real purpose in this sentence, particularly when it is clear from the context that the concentration will be expressed in parts per million.

So, would anyone disagree with me that "quantitatively" could be stricken from that sentence without any real loss of clarity? Given such a context, can anyone provide an example of a substantive difference in meaning between “to measure something quantitatively,” “to measure the quantity of something,” and “to quantify?”


texts: What tense is "would" in, "This attack would require the user to comply"?

texts:
The phrase: "This attack would require the user to comply"

What tense is would require?  Several thoughts were that it is somehow a present unreal conditional, but is it present?


texts:
Often in writings, I see use of the articles "a", the" with country names preceded by adjectives: a strong China, a friendly Cyprus, the rich Paraguay, etc.
What rule is that?


texts:
As an ESL student, sometimes I wonder whether I use too many pronouns. For example:

  She grabbed her purse, she took some money and then she went to buy some groceries. After that she returned happily with a lot of things she bought.

Can it be changed to something like this?

  She grabbed her purse, took some money and then went to buy some groceries. After that returned happily with a lot of things she bought.

When can you get rid of the pronouns without losing the sense of the person or object you’re referring to? Where can I get more information about this?


texts: The correct word for adoption of a law by the National Assembly?

texts: Since I am not a native English speaker I am not sure what word should I use for adoption of a law. The closest to my language is "adoption", but "promulgate", "enact" or some other word may be more appropriate.


texts: Which is right and why: Why do people go (to zoos/to zoo/to the zoo)?

texts:
I couldn’t find these explanation of exactly how the rules of articles apply in questions like this:

Why do people go to zoos?
Why do people go to zoo?
Why do people go to the zoo?

It’s not a question about a specific zoo, but about zoos in general.

The first variant sounds correct, but I’m not so sure about the second and third.

Are there scenarios in which both are acceptable, such as spoken English versus formal writing?


texts: What do you call dynamics in which the more you have, the more you get?

texts:
I am looking for a term for systems or dynamics in which the ability to earn a particular resource requires having a minimum of that resource available, and grows progressively or exponentially with it. I want to do some research on “you need money to make money” situations, but applied to non economic contexts as well.

I originally posted this in the Economics Stack Exchange, thinking that there must be some economic or game theory concept that describes this, but to no luck.

P.D.: no, I’m not looking for the word “capitalism”.


texts:
I'm not a native English speaker and I'd like to translate the following sentence:

"Here you can see your Account Terms including the freight and payment terms, minimum order value, and account currency."

Could you please explain what "account currency" is?

I would translate it as a type of an account which accepts payments in different currencies, but I'm not sure if that's true.

Is it a type of an account which accepts all kinds of currencies?

Is it the currency ($, €) that's used in the account?

Is it an expression that describes the account in any way?


texts: Is the phrase "come fast" a grammatically correct imperative?

texts:
Is the following sentence grammatically correct as a command?

  "Come fast."

I believe this would be a correct alternative:

  "Come quick."


texts: Commonly understood term or phrase to distinguish an entire hierarchy of employees in an organisation from the direct team

texts:
I have a system where manager can toggle between viewing their direct reports and all the employees who ultimately report to them. High level HR users have a third option of being able to view everyone regardless of reporting lines.

I want the labels on these options to be both succinct but also readily understood, and so far have options like:

"Everyone", "My Team" and "My Hierarchy"
"All", "All Reports" and "Direct Reports"
"Subordinates", "Immediate Subordinates" and "Everyone"

All of these terms seem a little confusing to me. "Reports" seems likely to be confused with our reporting functionality. "Subordinates" seems clearer, but also vaguely pejorative these days. The first option is my favourite, but while words like "hierarchy" seem obvious to me I think they may be too obscure for most.

Is there a nice commonly understood word or term that I could use here? I'm not looking for a single word that's synonymous with team or hierarchy, I'm looking for the words or phrase that most clearly makes the distinction between the immediate team and the hierarchy.

For instance, I want a director to be able to tell at a glance whether they're looking at their middle managers or their entire division. I want those middle managers to see whether they're looking at their line managers or their department, and so on.


texts:
What do you call a country where the legal system is observed? I came up with a "nomocratic country", but that seems to be used extremely rarely. There is a Wikipedia page talking about the Rule of Law, but I cannot come up with a way how to twist it into an adjective (or adjective phrase, if there is such a thing) to describe a country.

The context

I found a sentence somewhere which reads "Since Czech republic is a modern legal country based on a democratical regime, there are fundamental human rights being guaranteed." and I am trying to figure out how to rewrite it. I got stuck with the "legal country". It is obviously wrong, but I cannot figure out what's better to say.


texts: Is there a word to imply 'used to be beautiful'?

texts: Is there a word to imply when someone used to be beautiful back in the day? I thought of 'ex-beauty' but sounds too harsh. (Though either way it will be inappropriate for the modern age) it's for 60s literature.


texts:
What's a word that can be used to describe an author's portrayal of a scene as normal even though the content of what is described is innately disturbing/unnatural?

He cut open the dog's underbelly and we all took turns examining its insides, which were just as we had expected them to be. To get over the disappointment it was suggested we head out for drinks later, which I was forced to decline...
The writer's description of the scene is word.
The writer words the scene.
This disgusting scene is worded by the writer.

Earlier I was able to think specifically of the word, but now I can't even remember whether it was an adjective/verb, so sorry for being so open in my example usages, but hopefully this contains enough information for someone to propose something.


texts: Can "fair enough" mean "quantity enough"?

texts:
The adjective fair can mean quite large/big or many in quantity or degree.

Can "fair enough" mean "It's quite big enough" or "It's quite much/many enough"?


texts: Should a two-word noun that modifies be hyphenated?

texts:
I came across the sentence "He is Fibonacci spiral attractive," and my first thought was that "Fibonacci spiral" should be hyphenated. I consulted my sister, and she thought it should be "Fibonacci spiral-attractive." Now I'm considering that I'm wrong about it needing any hyphen at all.
I've been scouring the internet for answers, but I don't really know the technical terms, so I haven't been very successful.


texts: Is the verb "to steer" derived from driving oxen?

texts:
While answering another question, I read through the Online Etymology Dictionary's entry on steer:

steer (v.)
"guide the course of a vehicle," Old English steran (Mercian), stieran (West Saxon), from Proto-Germanic *steurijanan (cf. Old Norse
styra, Old Frisian stiora, Dutch sturen, Old High German stiuren,
German steuern "to steer," Gothic stiurjan "to establish, assert"),
related to *steuro "a rudder, a steering" (cf. Old English steor
"helm, rudder," German Steuer and first element in starboard), from
PIE *steu-ro- (cf. Greek stauros "stake, pole"), from root *sta- "to
stand" (see stet).
The notion is of a stiff, upright pillar or post used in steering. To steer clear of in the figurative sense of "to avoid completely" is recorded from 1723. Related: Steered; steering. Steering committee in the U.S. political sense is recorded from 1887.
steer (n.)
"young ox," Old English steor "bullock," from Proto-Germanic *steuraz (cf. Old Saxon stior, Old Norse stjorr, Swedish tjur, Danish tyr, Middle Dutch, Dutch, German stier, Gothic stiur "bull"), perhaps from PIE *steu-ro-, a root denoting "strength, sturdiness" (see taurus).

So, both the verb and the noun are traced back to the same Proto Indo-European root meaning "strength, sturdiness". The etymology I have posted does not link the two beyond suggesting that they have independently arisen from the same root.
This kind of convergent evolution goes very much against my training as a biologist which has taught me to look for the most parsimonious explanation of an observed lineage. In this case, that would be to have one sense of the term develop from the other. At the time when these words entered English, the only things people could steer (drive) were various types of boats and carts. Carts which were often pulled by oxen, by steers.
I would guess that steering as a verb developed from driving steer drawn carts. Is there any evidence for my suggestion or am I just spinning pretty stories?


texts: "Buy at an acceptable price" vs. "buy for an acceptable price"

texts: Is it correct to say "buy for" or "buy at" if we are not talking about location?


texts:
Is the headline of this blog correct?

  Does Online Learning Offer the Same Value as Face-to-Face Instruction?
  College Presidents & the General Public Disagree

When I read the headline I thought both College Presidents and the general public disagree that online learning learning can offer same value as face-to-face instruction. But when I read the article it actually meant that College Presidents and the general public had a disagreement on the issue. Is the headline genuinely ambiguous or am I the one misunderstanding? If it is wrong, then what would be the correct headline to represent the intended idea?


texts:
I keep second guessing myself on this one.

On one hand it seems like it should because the word Boolean is derived from the name of George Boole, the inventor of Boolean logic. However, the term as it is commonly used is not meant to imply something is like George Boole in any way.

I suppose the same question could be asked for any technical term that is named for its inventor, for example Cartesian coordinate systems (René Descartes).

So the titular question stands; should I capitalize Boolean when using it to refer to 2 state logic or variables in a computer program?

Clarification:
By "...or variables in a computer program..." I don't mean the actual code of a program.  I meant in documentation that refers variables in a computer program.

For example "Implement a variable using the the Boolean data type for the particular programming language that you are using."


texts: Is 'strongly used' possible in the sense 'used a lot', 'used intensively'?

texts:
Is 'strongly used'/'used strongly' standardly acceptable in the sense 'used intensively'?
My intuition is that it is not, but I can't find a grammatical justification for my intuition.
I want to stay in the passive sense for this example, as it's the sense I'm not sure about - to me it's clear that
'I strongly advise this' is fine;
*'I strongly use this' doesn't work (that is, in the sense 'intensely, decidedly', that kind of thing)
(Will happily change my opinion on these if my intuition has led me astray.)
But 'this technique is used strongly for such purposes' is at least semantically fairly clear to me, enough for functionality, even though it doesn't 'ring right' to my ear.
Current best guess is that 'use' is part of some semantic class of verbs that doesn't select for this sense of 'strongly', while 'advise', 'suggest' etc. can.
So, a) Is 'this is strongly used for X' fine? b) If not, why not: is it to do with the adverb's characteristics, the verb's characteristics, or some combination of both?


texts: Is there an English metaphor/saying for this expression?

texts:
I'm translating a book and the author has written down a saying that can be translated literally as "If you want to hit a dog you can easily/quickly find a stick" Like, if I wanted to hit a dog, finding something with which to hit it will be easy as I'll be looking for anything I can to injure it. It need not necessarily be a stick, but just some kind of weapon...

The meaning is if you're already predisposed towards hating something you'll quickly find a way to destroy it.

If nothing like this exists feel free to say that and I'll try and find a way around it. I'd rather not shoehorn in an awkward translation.


texts: When I am using bullet points where do I put the "or"?

texts: I have a bullet list. Should I use the word "or" within the bullet points? If so, where should it go? Or do I not use the word "or" for the last bullet point?


texts: A complicated sentence occurring in Tolkien's "Silmarillion"

texts:
I've come across a rather complicated sentence in Tolkien's work "The Silmarillion" and I'm afraid that I need some help at understanding its meaning, and therefore its grammar. It reads as thus:

From without the world, though all things may be forethought in music or foreshown in visions from afar, to those who enter verily into Eä each in its time shall be met at unawares as something new and unforetold.

Let me explicate my attempts at deciphering this sentence. First, I believe that the first comma is not a true separation, so that the first part of the sentence may be understood as "Though all things may be forethought [...] from without the world,". Then "unawares" is not a noun, so that the "at" that comes right before it must refer to something else, and the only choice would be "each", so that "those who enter" meet at "each". (On the other hand, if "unawares" was indeed somehow something at which one could meet, then one might conjecture the sentence to mean that "those who enter" somehow meet "each" unexpectedly, or something like that. But then I've never come across the construction "to meet sth. to so.", which seems to have been used here. I then have to assume it to mean something like "make so. acquainted with sth.")
An alternate interpretation of the "to those" might be that it stands in conjunction with the "From" in the beginning of the sentence, indicating that from any perspective, "each in its time" will be "met at" unawares.
Which of these thoughts are correct? What is the sentence's true meaning? I'd greatly appreciate any help!


texts: A word for 'treated-out' or 'therapied-out' - all medical treatment exhausted without effect

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes the following:

A patient who has received all possible medical treatment but all of them have failed to initiate a cure or remission. The patient cannot be (meaningfully) helped according to conventional medicine. The patient's illness does not necessarily have to be a terminal disease.

Hence: The patient is 'treated-out' or 'therapied-out'.

I'm aware that 'treated-out' and 'therapied-out' do not exist as such, and currently I don't intend to use them.

The word or two-worded term I'm looking for could be the counterpart to the German word 'austherapiert'.

NOTE: I'm NOT looking for untreatable patient, terminal-stage patient, palliative care, palliative treatment, or palliative care patient

I am looking for a word or two-worded term that relates to the patient and implies that essentially all conceivable treatment has been tried and applied, unsuccessfully.

(UPDATE)

THE MOST APPROPRIATE TERMS FOUND

The following expressions seem to match best for non-terminal diseases:

all treatment options exhausted
a treatment-exhausted patient
'therapied out' - seems to be an uncommon but more and more frequently used term, according to the search results on Google Books but much less in scientific literature; bear in mind Google's Ngram Viewer has no entries for 'therapied out' (Ngram Viewer version 2012/2013, as available on 22 Nov 2018)

For terminal diseases, these were found (not mentioned above):

an end-stage patient
infaust-prognosis patient


texts:
An idea that attracts pursuit by many but that is actually a bad idea with no solution.

An idea bomb?  mind suck?  time waster (lame)?    idea siren?

It comes up for me in software development/tech when we think we're smarter than we really are because we've think we've thought of something that doesn't exist or at least hasn't gone mainstream.  There seem to be a lot of benefits to it but it takes a significant investment in time (at least) to realize how the idea wasn't as great as we thought it was.  I feel like I've heard a good phrase for this podcasted/blogged about but I can't think of it now.


texts: What does "be in like manner" in this sentence mean?

texts:
Should the people of America divide themselves into 3 or 4 nations, would not the same thing happen? Would not similar jealousies arise, and be in like manner cherished?

What does be in like manner mean?


texts:
There is this sentence in a letter of Bertrand Russell:

  Even the absurdities - the thunder and lightning - are big and invigorating after the stifling finniky appropriateness of everything French.

I couldn't find this anywhere. Is it a typo? The following words have similar spelling : finicky, Finnic, finicking (also finikin, finnicking, finnikin).


texts: How did the usage of the word "pretty" become synonymous with the word "really"?

texts: When and how did Americans come to accept and widely interchange the word "pretty" for "really"?  (ex. "It was a pretty big tornado".  "She had a pretty bad headache".)


texts:
I want to write the introduction of a story

It goes like this ,

A guy...

some bitterness,

some talks,

some love ...

and

a break up

or

the break up

what should I write here ?


texts: What verb do I use when 'y(ies)' is used together in a sentence

texts: For example, should it state: The beneficiary(ies) on your account were updated? OR The beneficiary(ies) on your account was updated? I'm thinking the first, but want to be sure.


texts: Meaning Of "Wrapped Around My Finger" and "See Ya When I See Ya"

texts:
Will you help me to understand the meaning of these phrases?

  Wrapped around my finger

and

  See ya when I see ya


texts: Why does the gorilla weigh exactly 800 pounds?

texts:
It is common in American English to refer to a powerful person or organization as an 800 pound gorilla. The expression makes sense -- a gorilla of that size would certainly be intimidating -- but what's so special about the number 800?

Searching "n lb gorilla" on Google for various values of n results in many more hits when n = 800 than when n is any other quantity. Also, the Google Ngram Viewer finds notable occurrences of the phrase "800 pound gorilla" in texts starting around the late 1970s; other sized gorillas don't seem to be mentioned at all.

The Wikipedia entry for the idiom claims that the phrase is rooted in a riddle ("Where does an 800 lb gorilla sleep?"), but that's just passing the buck. A 700 lb or 900 lb gorilla would be equally entitled to sleep wherever he wants to.

Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry for gorilla states that the average male gorilla weighs about 400 lb, occasionally reaching 500 lb in the wild. Only obese gorillas in captivity have attained weights of 600 lb. So the number doesn't even seem to be related to gorilla biology (except that it is safely larger than any known gorilla, save King Kong).

Given that it's an arbitrary figure, is there any reason the number 800 would be more popular than any other? More generally, is there any relevant research into why some numbers would be more popular or pleasing than other in contexts like this?


texts:
I need a word that describes how some words have irrelevant meanings.
Such as hot fast cold etc. what is hot to one person is not hot to another. What is hot? 100 degrees 1000 degrees. I knew this word long ago and can’t remember and it’s driving me crazy


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use the subjunctive mood?

Given the sentence

  John brings his lunch to school,

is it correct to say

  It is important that John brings his lunch to school

(using the third person singular present form of bring), or

  It is important that John bring his lunch to school

(using the infinitive form of bring)?

[Edit: The answers indicate that this is actually the subjunctive form, not infinitive.]

I have been told that the infinitive form is correct, but if this is correct I would like an explanation. It doesn't seem like adding it is important should modify the tense of the rest of the sentence.


texts: Can we have "has had + past participle" in a sentence?

texts:
Can we have following structure in English sentence - Has had + Past Participle? Can somebody shade some lights on it? I mean why author didn't write - aspect of which had conferred

"Dickie thus arrives at a position in which a succinct formulation of the institutional theory of art is available: “A work of art in the classificatory sense is (a) an artifact; (b) a set of the aspects of which has had conferred upon it the status of candidate for appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution (the art world)” (Dickie, 1993, p. 212)."

Source- I got these lines from a textbook on art theory.

Thanks for your help


texts: What is the proper word for 'newly formed flower'?

texts: I am creating a wiki page and I am looking for an exact word for 'newly formed flower' with characteristics like fresh, young, charming, etc.


texts: What's the name of the fallacy for using "localised" examples to suggest a "systemic" problem?

texts:
For e.g

"All Muslims are terrorists, that muslim guy knifed that girl in London last month"

"All white men have privilege, just look at any senior level boardroom"

(not the same as the fallacy for associating a group with the actions of a few)


texts: What is the origin of the culinary term "escabeche"

texts: What is the origin of the culinary term or dish "escabeche"