texts: Vuvuzela: what was it called in American English before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?

texts:
FIFA World Cup 2010, South Africa. The excitement. The tension. The constant sound of buzzing bees.

And every one kept talking about this crazy new instrument the 'vuvuzela' making all this noise, so exotic and colorful; even the word is wild.

Except that the instrument is totally well-known, at least in the US and at football games, and has been for as long as I can remember. Kids would come back from most any sporting event (ones where you'd take kids with either a pennant, a jersey, a ball, some sparkly thing, or ... well, this thing we currently call a vuvuzela.

What was this plastic trumpet thing called before the -word- 'vuvuzela' appeared? Was it so generically called a 'plastic trumpet'? Is that how impoverished things were vocabulary-wise that we had no more evocative term for it, making it so easy for vuvuzela to take over? So impoverished that I don't think there was even a word at all; we just pointed. Even the vendors may not have known, they just sold those things when people pointed at them. "We're almost sold out of ...those things... We'll be getting a box of ...those things in a few minutes?"

What did we call ... it before summer 2010?


texts: SO referenced as "they" - right or wrong?

texts:
So I read a few posts over at IPS and I saw that SO (significant other) is referenced as "they". For example here the author of the accepted answer said that "they told them to ..." and with "they" referencing to the SO.
Question:
Why is SO referenced as they and not as he/she ? What rule causes this ? Or maybe I m completely misunderstanding the whole situation ?


texts:
What is the exact meaning of "rolled far to the westward" in the following passage? It is from the book “Persian Gulf Command” by Ashley Jackson, p288.
Churchill wrote to Brooke on 1 December 1942 that "the role of the Tenth Army is dependent upon the Russian defence of the Caucasus. Since we formed it in August a vast, favourable change has taken place, and it may be that before the end of the year all danger to Persia and Iraq will have rolled far to the westward"
Of course, the meaning is somehow clear: "the danger for Iran and Iraq will be eliminated", but "to the westward" is problematic. Does it mean the danger from west for these two countries will be eliminated? Or does it have another meaning?


texts: Does this sentence require a question mark at the end?

texts:
"Children are continuously forced to hear stereotypes about themselves because of their gender, but what if a child wanted to challenge their fate?"

I know it doesn't begin with a question word, but I was still curious if it could pass as a question.


texts: Which one is the direct object and indirect object?

texts:
Everyone is looking at us.

In the above sentence, "to look" is the verb, "everyone" the subject. Is "us" a direct object or indirect object?

How do you find the DO and IO?


texts:
I heard on the following web site that one person says "* give an exact number.."
http://loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=12-P13-00043

I wonder whether or not the "give" can be used as a verb in a formal presentation?

Is the word formal? If not, what are the formal verbs used in presentation?


texts: Which connector is correct 'by' or 'with' in the sentence?

texts:
May I know which one is correct by or with and why?

The model lost weight by exercising.
The model lost weight with exercising.


texts: Should two independent clauses separated by "and" also have a comma even when used in parantheses with the phrase "you know"?

texts:
My question deals specifically with this example:

  I was extremely excited, so it was hard for me even to grab the doorknob and turn it—I kept on missing and my hand was shaking, you see—but once I finally got that done, I flung the door open and scurried outside.

Should there be a comma after missing so that it looks like the following?

  I was extremely excited, so it was hard for me even to grab the doorknob and turn it—I kept on missing, and my hand was shaking, you see—but once I finally got that done, I flung the door open and scurried outside.

Thanks!


texts: must have his own way meaning necessity or remark

texts:
He must have his own way.

What does the verb must mean in the sentence?   Does it mean

(1) it is fairly sure that he is the kind of person who would not be happy if he doesn't have his own way?  OR

(2) it literally means that it is necessary for him to have his own way?

Could you help me clarify it?  Thank you always.


texts: How many "of" is allowed? How to reposition nouns correctly?

texts:
Facing this, I am not sure that I know the right answer. At the university, I was taught that only 2 prepositions "of" are allowed to be sounding natural. If it comes to translation from Russian into English, it becomes hard since Russian is a syntactical language and there can be 3-4+ nouns in a row (in the Genitive case). I am not sure all nouns can be replaced in order to avoid many "of" in English. What is the rule here?

For example, "the level of reflexivity of representatives of other professions." Will it be okay to restructure it, say, into - "the level of reflexivity of other professions representatives (avoiding 1 of)" or "the other professions representatives' level of reflexivity (avoiding 2 of)" or "the other professions representatives' reflexivity level (avoiding all 3 of)"? What does make sense?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
I have read that in using unreal conditionals, irrespective of personal pronouns, it mandatory to use subjunctives to form verbs.

" If Jack was playing they would probably win " - if I am correct, the verb 'was' should be replaced by the subjunctive 'were'.

I have taken the above sentence from a famous English Learning Website. Please let me why this sentence is correct ?


texts: What's the British equivalent of American "Formica" for faux wood?

texts:
In America, the word "Formica" refers to the laminate wood surface of a certain era.  (Correct me if I'm wrong on this, as I'm not an American.)  This word has a certain retro feel to it.  So it would not be used for today's laminated wood.

Is this word also used in Britain in the same way?  If not, is there any equivalent word that gives the same connotation?

--

Related to this question, I believe Formica surface is quite popular in America
during the 60 and 70s.  (Again correct me if I'm wrong.)  Is it true in England?

Thank you


texts: May I ask if a noun is modified by more than one adjective that indicates two kinds of thing, whether we should use a plural or singular noun? For example, we should say "Japanese and Western cultures" or "Japanese and Western culture"?


texts:
Using MS Word, I typed, "As Roblin and Adelaide are reading the reviews, Roblin thinks that women may get the vote and their rights after all.

MS Word puts a green squiggle under "reviews," and it asks me to change the comma to a semi colon. If I do, however, my entire sentence is wrong. What can I change to make it correct?


texts: Why is "salient" pronounced with a "long a" sound?

texts:
The word salient is pronounced with a "long a" sound; Wiktionary gives the US pronunciation as /ˈseɪ.ljənt/, /ˈseɪ.li.ənt/. Is there any reason why the vowel letter here receives its "long" pronunciation (IPA /eɪ/) rather than its "short" pronunciation (IPA /æ/)?

The vowel does not seem to have been long in the Latin ancestor of the word, saliens. We use a "short a" in the word valiant /ˈvæljənt/, which has the same spelling pattern.


texts: Word for "the process of becoming a taboo"

texts: I'm looking for a word that would be roughly equivalent to "the process of becoming a taboo," specifically in the context of film/literary criticism, where the "taboomanization" of sexuality serves as a common literary theme in the type of fiction I'm writing about.


texts: put it up - put it out: what does it mean in this context?

texts:
I don't really understand the meaning of "put it up" and "put it out" in this context. The context is work in a professional kitchen: a chef is explaining to a cook how to prepare a dish:

«I know that dish takes 5 minutes and it’s only been 2; don’t even put it up. I’d rather you take an extra minute [and] slow up service to get it right. But don’t put it out, because that 1 minute you save in putting it out is going to become 6 minutes behind because you’re going to have to redo the plate.»

Thank you!


texts: Can dummy "it" occur as possessive "its"?

texts:
I don't want to get too bogged down in exactly what constitutes a dummy pronoun usage (personally, I'd include things like Who's there? It's John, even if not everyone else does).

But on this recent ELL question I wrote the comment I'm not convinced the possessive form its can ever be a true "dummy" usage.

The only reason I said I'm "not convinced" is because I couldn't think of any examples. Can anyone either prove me wrong or explain why I'm right?


texts: A better way to say "endure the difficulties that has to come"?

texts:
Writing an essay about decision making.

Is there a better way to say "that has to come"?


texts:
1 How do you spell forred (as in fore-head)?

2 why is this not in the dictionary?

3 Is forred universally used in English speaking countries?


texts: Shortest date abbreviation recommended by CMOS

texts:
What's the shortest abbreviation for a full date (day, month, and year) recommended by the Chicago Manual of Style?

I know CMOS recommends against all-numeral dates, so I'd rather not use those. (I know that it says that, when absolutely required, one should follow the ISO standard: "YYYY-MM-DD".)

I've seen it recommend "Mon. D, YYYY" (e.g. "Jan. 1, 2014"), but I'm not sure if that's the shortest date format it recommends. For computer usage, it can still be pretty long.


texts: Prepositions before and after percentages

texts:
I'm commenting on several data of a graphic and I have a doubt question about the preposition that comes (or doesn't) before the percentage, and whether the determiner "the" has to appear before "times/ cases..."

Sentences:

  Further, (in) 73,83% of (the) times bloody is said...
   ... while only 26,16% of (the) cases is a child...
   We can notice that (in) 75,6% of (the) times...

Could you please give me some guidance?


texts: Origin of the quote "Sadness is caused by intelligence"?

texts:
In social media (1)(2)(3), I have found:

  "Sadness is caused by intelligence, the more you understand certain things, the more you wish you didn't understand them."
  —  Charles Bukowski.

But yet I have no reliable source that can confirm me.
I will be grateful if you please tell me about the reak quote-author and origin of this quote with proper resources.


texts: I consider the word issue to be a loose synonym of the word problem. Can I use the word issue to refer to the scope of problems discussed in some work of art? For example, the opera's issue? By the way, can I call an opera work of art or this term can be applied only to pictures, scuptures and stuff like that?


texts:
What's a phrase that can convey the idea of "a variety of different jobs with no central theme"? "Various odds and ends" was the one that occurred to me, but it didn't feel exactly right and thefreedictionary also says it's used for material things, not jobs.

Is there a phrase that conveys this idea better?

Edit: Thanks for the comments, I mean jobs in the sense of employment, working at various companies or in several unconnected projects, etc.


texts:
Note: feel free to rephrase the title to be much better.

I am still confused with determining whether an event can be regarded as a past event or present event. I will use a timer (format mm:ss:pp) to ease our analysis where p stands for 1/100 seconds.

Case 1: an event completes before my speaking

00:00:00 - 00:02:00 : A boy is smiling at me.

00:02:01 - 00:04:00 : I want to say but I am not sure which one is correct?

He smiles at me as if he felt happy.
He smiled at me as if he had felt happy.

From mathematical point of view, I choose the second option. Unfortunately, there are some people also use the first one.

Case 2: an event completes at the middle of my speaking

00:00:00 - 00:02:00 : A boy is smiling at me.

00:01:51 - 00:03:50 : I want to say but I am not sure which one is correct?

He smiles at me as if he felt happy.
He smiled at me as if he had felt happy.

I have no idea which one I should choose.

Consideration

It is impossible to say at a single point in a time interval. It takes some interval to do any action. The problem is how we can determine an event is a past or present. What is the width of present interval measured from the point we start speaking?


texts:
And most important, few but Professor Ettinger had seen the letters.

I am not sure what the phrase "few but" exactly means. I tried to find the meaning on the internet but without any success. Given the context (Ettinger actually read the letters) I would understand it that Ettinger belonged to a minority of people who head read the letters. But if I apply to this phrase the same logic as to the similar one "all but", the meaning is rather different: few people read it but Ettinger not. So could you tell me which meaning is correct.


texts: A difference between two parts of sentences

texts:
What's a difference between these two parts of sentences:

Example: This software is ..., it doesn't catch (any) errors, it leaves everything to someone.

it doesn't catch errors
it doesn't catch any errors

Could I use contraction in annotation?

And should I use article the in this sentence?

the correctness of (the) data


texts: Describing "not knowing what to do" (as a response to an unexpected event that happened)?

texts:
Is there a good word or a great expression that describes not knowing what to do (as a response to an unexpected event that happened)?

Something uncanny happened, and I do not know what to do.
A raccoon drank my cup of tea on the table (and there was still some tea left in the cup). I do not know what to do.
My mom told me that my father is actually me who will travel back in time later and marry her and then procreate with her. I do not know what to do.
Dr Perhaps called himself perhaps and perhaps not surprisingly it was perhaps his real name. So when Dr Perhaps asked me "Would you perhaps make a guess on what perhaps my real name is?", I do not know what to do.

Mr Loy suggested the word "lost" to be used and I looked it up in the dictionary only to discover that

Lost
(of a person) very confused or insecure or in great difficulties: she stood there clutching a drink, feeling completely lost | I'd be lost without her

And that I think it's a bit different from not knowing what to do.
But strangely it has the definition of "not knowing what to do" too. However I think when "lost" is used most people will assume it to be an indication of confusion or insecurity. So thank you Mr Loy but I'm looking for an even greater word or better expression if it ever exists.


texts: Shouldn’t the word bird in the first sentence be birds’ as it’s a nest for more than one?


texts:
In linguistics there is a common hierarchy of words:

Hypernym     (e.g. Colours)
   |
   V
Hyponym     (e.g. Brown, yellow)

Does such a hierarchy exist within phrases?


texts: Stereotypical, recognisable, educated version of "gosh"

texts:
Is there an expression like "gosh" that a stereotypical upper-class British character would say for expressing surprise?

I've thought of "parbleu", but it being a loan word from French, it doesn't sound right as a stereotypical English expression.

I would avoid "My Lord" because of possible moral implications with the reader.

Note: it should be easily recognisable by a non-English audience.

Is there such an expression? Thanks!


texts: What are good adjectives that mean “not yet connected”?

texts:
I'm working on a browser-based tool that allows users to interact with other users they are matched with. Relationships between users progress in a linear fashion along a series of states, initiated when a user requests to be connected with another user.

In the interface of the tool, a user can view all of the users they're matched with, regardless of the state of their relationship.

I'd like to allow users to navigate to a filtered version of this view that shows only users they have not yet requested a connection with, but I'm having trouble with what to call it.

"Unconnected Matches" isn't quite right. "Unconnected" carries unwanted connotations of having once been connected in the past.

Ideally the phrase would follow the pattern: adjective + "matches".

This phrase would only live in a tab in the interface and not in a sentence anywhere, but if it helps with context, here's another way to think about it:

  This is a list of your _______ matches. You can request to be connected with any of them.

Any good alternatives? I was pointed this direction from ux.stackexchange.com.


texts: Is the correct format "Good morning, John" or "Good morning John"?

texts:
Which of these is in the correct format?

  Good morning, John.

Or

  Good morning John.


texts: Should contractions like "'til" be capitalized in a title?

texts: Should contractions like "'til" be capitalized in a title, when in the middle of a title? What if the "'til" is the first or last word? An example of this is the album "Dog Party - 'Til You're Mine" (Spotify capitalization; the album cover has it stylized in lowercase).


texts: How do you describe a study which attempts to isolate the compounding effect of factor A on factor B?

texts:
Shameless cry for academic help here.

I'm working on my thesis, which is a study that will focus on the compounding effect of group dynamics on persuasive technology. The control and treatment group will be given daily SMS notifications encouraging them to walk, but the control group will be participating as disparate individuals, and the treatment group will be a group working in the same office together. The dependent variable is their weekly step count over the course of the month. I just need some help on the title. Does this imply that I am attempting to isolate the effects of group dynamics and the effects of SMS notifications/triggers and report on each? or does this imply that I am only going to study the compounding effect of group dynamics on what we already understand are the overall effects of mobile notifications?

The Compounding Effects of Interoffice Group Dynamics and
SMS Behavioral Triggers on the Ambulation of Utah Tech Professionals

I would need to have four groups (group w/ SMS, group w/o SMS, individuals w/ SMS, individuals w/o SMS) if I wanted to tease out the impact of triggers vs group dynamics. I'm trying to make it clear that I'm not doing that.

Thanks for any help!


texts:
I only know of confabulation, which is a related but distinct process of bringing together fact with misremembered things.

Is there an accepted name for memories of which, for example, the person cannot tell if they happened in a dream or in reality?


texts: How to distinguish if a sentence is using the historical present?

texts:
Many headlines use the present tense to talk about the past. However, I feel that sometimes it's hard to distinguish when they are using the historical present and when they are talking about a habitual action. For example, a headline of "Today's trailer reveals new character" could be interpreted both ways, such as in "Interstellar' Trailer Reveals Potentially Habitable Worlds."

http://www.space.com/26707-interstellar-trailer-reveal-potentially-habitable-worlds-video.html

Another example of a headline that I find hard to distinguish would be "Today's Star Wars Comic Changes The Canon... Forever!" I'm not sure if it's using historical present or if it's similar to a sentence like "this changes everything."


texts: For a past situation: simple infinitive or perfect infinitive after "ought to"?

texts:
In Michael Vince's New First Certificate Language Practice, page 92, exercise 2, sentence number 10, you are given the sentence:

"I thought that you would know better!"

which has to be re-written starting with "You …" and including the word "ought".

The key says "You ought to know better."

Isn't this ambiguous?

Why not "You ought to have known better", since the situation in which the listener made the wrong choice is past, not present?


texts: Is there an official symbol for repetition in a table

texts:
In one of the tables of a paper, I used a hyphen to indicate the repetition of the value in a cell into the one below.
Here is an (ugly) example:

╭────────╥────────────┬─────────────────────╮
│        ║     id     │       species       │
╞════════╬════════════╪═════════════════════╡
│ crab   ║ C#01       │ Cancer borealis     │
│        ║ C#02       │ -                   │
│        ║ C#03       │ -                   │
│        ║            │                     │
│ shrimp ║ S#01       │ Lysmata amboinensis │
│        ║ S#02       │ Stenopus hispidus   │
│        ║ S#03       │ Lysmata amboinensis │
└────────╨────────────┴─────────────────────┘

Here, hyphens mean that C#02 and C#03 are of the same species as C#01 (Cancer borealis)

Unfortunately, the editor refused this formatting because in tables hyphens usually stand for missing values.

So my question is: would there be a more appropriate, standard symbol for vertical repetition in a table?


texts: Is this correct? 'Dear Reddit, today, I messed up.'

texts:
So there is a subforum on Reddit that I have recently come across, and in the header it has the following text:

  Dear Reddit, today, I messed up.

The issue that I see with this is that the comma after the word 'today' does not appear to be correctly placed.

This came up in a recent conversation with a friend of mine, in which I stated that the comma is incorrectly placed and instead it should be written like the following:

  Dear Reddit, today I messed up.

However, he argues that the comma is correctly placed and does not need to be corrected.
Would anyone be able to provide some information about this?

Thank you!


texts: "To believe the ocean exists when you see a stream. it is the vision ..."

texts:
Is this grammatically correct?

Please correct the above quote.

I want to complete the expression.


texts: The meaning of `There's no way ever you'd use a computer to show it's true.`

texts:
Does the sentence:

  There's no way ever you'd use a computer to show it's true.

mean:

  There's some way that I can show it's true by computer
  There's no way that I can show it's true even by computer** ?

(I am an English learner and I am confused about this sentence.)


texts:
Are these sentences correct in terms of punctuation and grammar?

She asked, "Could I have a drink of your water?" Then she walked away when I said, "No, you can't."

Thanks so much for the first three responses, but I guess I should have continued by telling you that this is part of a transcription, so I can't change the order of the words.  Given that information, is 'Then' best capitalized and starting its own sentence, or would you leave it lowercase as a continuation of the prior sentence?


texts: Military personnel normally put their badges on their shoulders - what is that area called?

texts:
I want a word that can sum up one's experiences in a battlefield but I am unable to find the proper terminology for this purpose.

Military badges are normally placed on the left shoulder as well as the upper left chest of military personnels. What is the proper name for these areas which badges would be placed on?


texts:
I wonder what the "sprocket" in this image is called, since I cannot find anything like it when I searching for sprocket in an online shop like www.grainger.com or globalindustrial.com.

Is there a specific definition for it?


texts: 'why' as a fused relative word or an interrogative word

texts:
A BBC reporter, Melissa Hogenboom, talks about her father in this BBC article "The part of my dad that dementia can't take":

  My dad does not fall into any of the risk categories for dementia. There is no family history of it. He’s always been slim, healthy and active. This is part of why the disease is so devastating – it can affect anyone and we still do not understand why.

Is this 'why' a fused relative word or an interrogative word?

EDIT

This question does NOT have an answer in the earlier question fused relatives versus interrogatives.

There, the answer by John Lawler cites, and is solely based on, Haj Ross's paper "Conjunctive and Disjunctive Wh-clauses."

The paper, however, is irrelevant in that both conjunctive and disjunctive wh-clauses are interrogative clauses.

In fact, more than a month ago, I posted a comment to John Lawler's answer and asked about his opinion on the alleged misquoting of the paper and the writing up of an answer based on the misquoted paper. But unfortunately, I have not heard from him ever since.

So, whoever cited John Lawler's answer there as an answer to my question should go to that earlier question/answer and "read" the answer, the paper, and my comment there, although I think they should have done all that before marking this question as a "duplicate," whatever that means.


texts:
When we talk about colour, can we say 'it is in pink'?
"In' in the sentences is necessary? OR it has different meaning?


texts: Words to describe electronic information

texts:
An object that takes physical, material, or corporeal form can be held and seen by humans. When we describe the opposite, something that cannot be held or seen by the naked eye, words like spiritual or non-material are used. I'm looking for a word that's more specific: something to describe the sequences of numbers packed into data chips and technology whatsits.

  "Information, whether of material or ________ form, can be found at the library."

Assume that the library carries books and CDs/DVDs. In order to avoid wordy descriptions, does anyone have any suggestions for a single word that can fill the blank? I avoided antonyms of "physical" because they refer to things that are otherworldly.


texts: Is there a phrase for the night before a weekday?

texts: Sometimes I hear people say "I don't go out late on weeknights" when they mean Sunday through Thursday nights. Other times "weeknights" refers to Monday through Friday nights. Is there a less ambiguous way to say the former?


texts:
Is there somebody, who can help me understand this?

Coffee is a lot more than just a drink; it’s something happening.
Not as in hip, but like an event, a place to be, but not like a location, but like somewhere within yourself.

What does the highlighted part 'not as in hip' mean?
Maybe it is an old meaning of the word?
So I know firstly the meaning of this word is our body part, also the synonym of cool or fashionable, but in this context what does it mean?


texts:
She said I used to eat too much.
She said I was used to eat too much.

Which one is correct? If both are correct, do they mean the same thing?


texts: 'how we make a car' or 'how do we make a car'?

texts:
I don't know the difference between how we make a car and how do we make a car.

I searched on the internet; there are examples for both but I do not understand in which cases they would each be used.


texts:
Shakespeare’s Macbeth famously says, “If it were done, when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well it were done quickly,” which I rearranged, according to my understanding, as, “‘Twere well it were done quickly, if, when ‘tis done [the assassination], it were done [his ascendancy assured].

I think I’ve understood this line correctly, and if I haven’t, please let me know. But my question otherwise bears on the subjunctive, “‘twere well it were done quickly.” I rather understood this as, “It would be well [or sensible] if it were done quickly.” Have I got that wrong? And did “would” come to replace “‘twere” is these subjunctive constructions?

Thank you for your time!


texts: When did "Twerking" and "Selfie" enter the dictionary?

texts: I read in the news that twerking and selfie have been added to dictionary recently. Did it give any origin? Is there any information or details about them?


texts: Is "pidgeon" a correct alternate spelling of "pigeon"?

texts:
Is "pidgeon" a correct spelling for the grayish fowl scientifically known as Columba livia domestica? Pigeon appears to be the more common spelling, but it looks strange to me.

For comparison, words such as bludgeon, bridge, and midget use the "dg" construct, and words like belligerent and indigenous do not. I supply the following Ngram to save time for anyone who may need to refer to it.

Additionally, can one predict which way a word with the "idge" sound will be spelled, or is this a case-by-case kind of thing?


texts: Can I use "when" to start a sentence with the past progressive?

texts:
My class is working on the past progressive and the simple past, and I was wondering if I can use when instead of while for the following sentence

While I was eating, the bell rang.

When I was eating, the bell rang.

Thank you


texts: work 'at' the weekends or work 'during' the weekends?

texts: I wrote "Many college students work at the weekends."  My colleague changed 'at' to 'during' = Many college students work during the weekends.  Do you feel there is a difference, however subtle?


texts: How to say that I have been many years in the IT field

texts:
Currently, I'm starting my resume with

  Throughout more than ten years within the IT I have gained a broad knowledge...

But I don't know whether that sentence makes sense to native speakers. Should I use in instead of within? Is there a better way to reword this?


texts:
Engineers in World War I dug through the earth to build serpentine trenches borne from horrifically clear logic.
If enemy soldiers ever breached it, the zigzagging pattern would prevent them from shooting in a straight line down the length of the trench — leaving only a relative few exposed to gunfire or shrapnel.

Is a relatively few possible here?
Is there any difference in meaning?
If both are possible, which is better and why? Both semantic and syntactic analyses are appreciated.


texts: Meaning of phrase "Early/late in the piece"

texts:
I've heard people say "this early in the piece" or "this late in the piece". It seems to be spoken as a kind of idiomatic expression, but I'm not sure what it really means.

What is the meaning of the phrase?

What is the abstract "the piece" that is meant? Piece of what?

I wasn't even sure if it should be "piece" or "peace", however doing a Google search seems to come up in favour of "piece".

What is the etymology of the phrase?

Examples:

  "His argument against the legislation came too late in the piece. The
  decision had already been made."

(Word mavens ~ Is it "late in the peace" or "late in the piece"?)

  From early in the piece, even before Coombs became chair of the
  Australian council for the Arts in 1967 (the organization that Whitlam
  reinvented in 1973 as the Australia Council), Ken consulted him about
  aspects of the art center...

(The Many Lives of Kenneth Myer, by Sue Ebury)


texts:
How exactly can you contract the phrase "is not"?

More specifically, what's the difference between the sentences, "The dog isn't running." and "The dog's not running."?

They both sound correct to my ear, but I'm not sure if the latter is grammatically correct.


texts:
He is no better than a beggar.

vs

  He is not better than a beggar.

Is the meaning roughly the same? If not, what is the difference?


texts: "Taking back books from people that/which have borrowed them"?

texts:
I am not sure which word would be more grammatically correct, "that" or "which", in this specific sentence:

  "What is a librarian? It may be a person who sits at a little desk, talking in a very low voice and taking back books from people that/which have borrowed them".


texts:
Just would like to know if saying "Men Socks" is correct?

It needs to mean "socks for men". By searching on google I could see that men's socks is more used.

If you speak portuguese, I was translating "meias masculinas" to English when I got this doubt.


texts:
I was listening to a song called 'Bedshaped' by the English band 'Keane'. But, I couldn't find any meaning of it from any dictionaries. Maybe I can guess, but I would like to make sure about this. What do you think about the meaning?
And, also, 'legs of stone' got me confused.

Here are the lyrics below.

  You'll follow me back
  With the sun in your eyes
  And on your own
  Bedshaped
  And legs of stone
  You'll knock on my door
  And up we'll go
  In white light
  I don't think so
  But what do I know?
  What do I know?
  I know!


texts: What are the differences between: subject, subjective, nominative, and the nominative case? If there aren't any substantial ones, why are there so many terms for basically saying the same thing?


texts: Is "wait up!" considered correct English?

texts: I thought if you wanted someone to wait for you, you would say, "wait for me". However, I've heard/seen a lot of people speak/write "wait up" instead. Is "wait up" correct English?


texts: Inconvenient though this might sound, ... phrase structure

texts:
The value of $_inputType is set internally by the class at the time of instantiating the
  object. If you attempt to change it directly, PHP generates a fatal error, bringing everything
  to a grinding halt. Inconvenient though this might sound, this preserves the integrity of
  your code by preventing an attacker from tricking a validation routine to handle variables
  from the wrong type of source.

Does this type of phrasing sound alright to you as native speakers of English?


texts: What is the difference between "supersede" and "obviate"?

texts:
This is more related to project management/software. Sometimes I got a ticket that comes in the place of another ticket. Which would be a better word to use: supersede or obviate?

Supersede: take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use); supplant.

Obviate: remove (a need or difficulty).


texts:
What the phrase is expressing is, "Choose what's truly your favourite flavour".

Can I say, "Choose your true, new flavour"?


texts:
What is the literary device used in “She’s not just showing you what she made. She’s showing you what she’s made of”

At first, I thought it was chiasmus, but it does not really fit.
Certain that it is a type of repetition, but I do not know what it would be specifically called.


texts: Was there any change from /u:/ to /ə/ (US: /ɚ/) in the history of English?

texts:
The /tʃ/ in the word "nature" is the result of palatalization (see this question). If I understand it correctly, the /t/ (nat) and and /j/ (ure) fused and produced /tʃ/. The letter U had the pronunciation /ju:/ (which is where the /j/ came from). So by palatalization, the pronunciation should be /ˈneɪ.tʃu:r/ (the vowel should not be affected) but now "nature" is /ˈneɪ.tʃər/ and the vowel has changed.
I searched the word's etymology in Wikitionary and according to that entry, "nature" is from Middle English nature and gives the pronunciation /naːˈtiu̯r/ and the entry also says Middle English natur: pronunciation /natuːr/, [naˈtˢuɐ̯ˀ] (I don't understand this square bracket transcription).
As seen, there is /u:/ in the pronunciation of "nature" but nowadays its pronunciation has /ə/ (UK) and /ɚ/ (US). There are many other words that end with "ture" and show the same change but I think this one is enough to demonstrate the change.
Was there a change from /u:/ to /ə/ (or /ɚ/) in the history of English?


texts:
I heard "This may be the case" in the seminar many times. But I still don't know what that means.

Could someone explain the meaning of this sentence? And it would be really appreciated if you give more examples of similar expressions.


texts:
What quantity am I saying here?

"3 million athletes, trainers and businesses use my product..."

Am I saying 3 million in total, or am I saying 9 million in total use my product (3M athletics + 3M trainers + 3M businesses).


texts: I'm writing a poem, and like how it's flowing. But I find that a tiny pause shorter than a comma would do tremendous. Is there such a mark or multitude of symbols to make a short pause?


texts: Deletion of Plural Forms in Business Names

texts:
There's a pet peeve that I encounter often while reading advertisements and business names. It's the deletion of plural forms of words.

For example, today I noticed a place called something like "Purcell Tractor and Equipment". Equipment is plural (I'm assuming), but tractor is left as singular. Why isn't it called "Purcell Tractors and Equipment"?

Some places would go as far as to call themselves simply "Purcell Tractor", though that's less common.

So my question is, what is the reason or possible history for leaving words as singular in commercial and formal names? Is there a rule for when to do this? I'm sure there's a major company with a name like this, but an example escapes me.


texts:
Was there any old usage of position indicating adjectives in English... like  Potter stood in the "twoeth" place in the class or Rachel was in "foureth" place,.. to indicate rank /serial order /chronology ? From six onwards we have a regular rule to make such adjectives (like the Sixth amendment, Seventh day etc).
Likewise in the interrogative:  In "what(eth)" block from street corner is the building you live in ?" .. had ever been in vogue?
In several other languages the rank indicative  rule is followed without any exception.


texts: Of course I don't! - comma needed or not

texts:
All the time I see people replying with "of course I will" or "yes it is!" (to "it's not that good" and not placing a comma after "of course" and "yes". The second case seems even more extreme, as even placing a comma would not help - it would still be a comma splice.

However, if I do place the commas, the sentences will become very confusing, as many people would probably read that as "I will, of course" and "it is, yes".

Now, to me it seems that grammatically, there is no option but to leave the commas in place - though, again, this may cause confusion.

Any ideas?


texts: Corn dog is the most humble street food.


texts: Difference between "This makes no sense" and "This doesn't make sense"

texts: Are the expressions "This doesn't make sense" and "This makes no sense" equivalents? If not, what's the difference?


texts: Does the phrase "legend has it" mean a legend is factually accurate?

texts:
What does the term "legend has it" specifically mean? Does it just mean "There is a legend which says...", or does it mean "There is a legend which is actually accurate in saying..."?

My understanding is that a legend "has it" when it's factually accurate. Is this correct?


texts: Is there a fine line between symbolism and metaphors in literature?

texts:
Assume we have a literary masterpiece that is abundant in symbolism and metaphors. Within this masterpiece, the author uses a brook running through a glade of trees to represent a couple of things within his novel. Here is where I get confused with the true difference between what is a symbol and what is a metaphor.

The brook supposedly represents a character within the book, so to me this means it's a symbol. Yet the path that the brook takes through the glade is also supposed to represent various aspects of the life of the character, which to me is a metaphor.

So here is my question: can an object be both a symbol and a metaphor at the same time? If not, then how does one determine which of the two it is?


texts: A word that rhymes with Loyalty, begins with L and means or synonymous with greed?

texts: To all you wordsmiths out here , can you suggest a word that rhymes with Loyalty, begins with L and means greed?


texts: Difference between dependent and independent clauses

texts:
In the sentence "It's raining, but I'm happy," "but" is a coordinating conjunction. Both of the clauses are independent, right?

However, doesn't "I'm happy even though it's raining" mean the same thing? And yet, in this case, "even though it's raining" is a dependent clause, correct, because "even though" is a subordinating conjunction?

So I'm confused. What's the difference between dependent and independent clauses? I'm a secondary English teacher and I'm not sure how to explain this apparent double standard.


texts: Should I use "providing" or "provided" in this sentence?

texts:
These are the sentences I created:

"T.O.P’s mother (Big Bang): ‘My son is in a very critical condition'.

The first time SHARING with journalists, mother of a Big Bang member said he still had been in unconscious condition. She said that the information from the police's side PROVIDED before was completely wrong."

Are they grammatically correct? Is the verb SHARING correct? And Should I use "PROVIDING" or "PROVIDED" in the last sentence?


texts: What’s the difference between arbitrary and random

texts: I googled and it showed that the main meaning of “arbitrary” is “based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system”, while that of “random” is “made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision.” It seems that they have pretty the same meaning, is there any difference between them?


texts: Legibility of "of someone's failure to do"

texts:
Is the text in bold clear enough to read and understand?

  The lawyer did not utter the rationale of the second complainant's failure to complete his application for leave to apply to the Federal Court.

If I use the phrase "of someone's failure to do" in the other turn of speech, will it remain readable?

  In case of the second complainant's failure to apply to the appropriate authority at the agreed time, one should....


texts: Word or phrase to stress the importance of something?

texts:
How to stress the importance of something regarding a recent example? Clearly (in an essay) I want to stress the importance of a well-known scientific topic by pointing out to a recent news, namely granting one million dollars to a project in the field. In fact, I want something to convey this message:

  This is an important field and the recent news could be considered another piece of notable evidence.

So, what’s the word or phrase to best do so?


texts: Can action tags be punctuated like dialogue tags?

texts:
I have a habit of using action tags in the same way as dialogue tags.
Example:

"I don't know," she said.
"I think not," he scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"This could have gone better," the man frowned.

vs.

"I don't know," she said.
"I think not." He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"This could have gone better." The man frowned.

See how in the first block, I've punctuated dialogue & action tags the same?
I often do that because (to me) the "soft break" of a comma makes actions feel like they're happening simultaneously with the dialogue. But I'm not sure if this punctuation is grammatically correct, or more importantly, if it's readable to others.
Is this ever acceptable grammar in fiction?


texts: Squints (AE)- similar to the German word ‚Fachidiot‘?

texts:
Is the word ‚squints‘ similar to the German word ‚Fachidiot‘?
It‘s often used from Agent Booth (Series Bones) when he speaks about the scientists.


texts: Word/phrase for a character in a play/movie/story who is not a main character but interacts with at least one of them

texts:
In every fictional story, there are three types of characters:

1) The main characters
2) The people who interact with the main characters, but are not main characters themselves - for example, the front desk guy in Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
3) The extras.

What I'd like to know is if there's a word or a phrase to succinctly describe a character of type 2.

Minor character?


texts: How could I different the subjunctive mood from wrong tense or singular from in third personal?

texts:
Here is the example, which is right?

It's important he know this.
It's important he knows this.
It's important he has known this.

or, those above all right, but express different meaning.


texts:
Please have a look at the following example.

The shops on the high street see a customer drop.

The shops on the high street see customer drops.

Which one is grammatically correct?
Thanks.


texts: Is there any word for a person who gives the contract to murder to someone else?

texts: Is there a word for a person who doesn't commit murder himself but gives the contract to murder to someone else?


texts: What is the difference between 'out of breath' and 'breathless'? I have read the dictionary carefully. I saw an example is that:" We were out of breath after only five minutes''. And 'out of breath' is used with the meaning ' having the difficulty breathing after exercise'. I Wonder if we can use 'breathless' instead of ' out of breath' in that case ?


texts: What is the difference between "sacrificial lamb" and "scapegoat"

texts:
"Sacrificial lamb" and "scapegoat" don't seem to be completely interchangeable. What are the difference?

Some articles online, for instance this one here, that touch on this topic talk about how these two terms are similar. The aforementioned article defines scapegoat as

  A scapegoat is someone who dies for the benefit of a society, who takes on society’s collected sins.

Wiki pages say:

  A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed for the common good.

and

  the word "scapegoat" has developed to indicate a person who is blamed and punished for the sins of others.

Of course, scapegoat by origin has a heavier tone of sinfulness associated with it. But the modern figurative meanings seem to overlap significantly, if not completely.


texts: I'm looking for a descriptive word for someone who only sees things the way they want to see them

texts:
I'm looking for a word that refers to someone who only sees things the way they want to see them.

"She just can't seem to take someone else's view into account. She's very ____."

Something along those lines.


texts:
I'm a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, and I would like to get some information on SO as a conjunction. As far as I know, it's a coordinating conjunction, and it's part of the FANBOYS group. I know that SO THAT is considered a subordinating conjunction. However, I've heard a fellow teacher affirming that SO can also be a subordinating conjunction depending on its meaning. Is is true? This would change the way in which we analyse and classify sentences into "simple", "compound", "complex", and "compound- complex".
Thanks in advance,

Mary


texts: "I have done every bad thing in the good book" - What does it actually mean?

texts:
This question might be very specific to a situation in "Revolution" but I cannot understand this sentence.

From my understanding, he was saying that he has done everything that the book (he believed) said, but it turned out that everything he did was bad. Am I correct?


texts: What is the idiom/proverb for "You have to fend for yourself, no one is going to come for our rescue"?


texts: how to use "especially"? can we use "especially" after the special object we want to mention about?

texts:
Can we use especially after the special object we want to mention?  In the following, does especially apply just to Australia?

  First, the reading proves the significance of a mandatory voting system by giving us some cases from several countries such as Greece,  Luxembourg, Thailand and Australia, especially.


texts:
1906: President Roosevelt and Mr. Hearst stand as far as the poles asunder.
1899: Two writers of Marrano origin, wide as the poles asunder in gifts of mind and character ...
1795: ... they were brothers by blood, but their hearts were as far asunder as the poles.
1784: [T]he mutual attraction of hearts does not follow the ratio of their distance, and ours would be in contact were they distant as the poles asunder.

This stock phrase seems like it ought to have a known origin — maybe from a poem? — but I have not been able to track it down in a few minutes of looking.
The oldest similar phrase I found in a Google Books search was from Josiah Eveleigh:

1719: ... a Subordination of distinct Beings, which is as wide as the Poles from a relative Subordination of the Son to the Father in the same Being ...

In latter days the phrase is often quoted as "poles apart" rather than "asunder."

UPDATE synthesized from RaceYouAnytime and JEL's answers below:

Young, 1753: Long as I live, I stand a world between you / And keep you distant as the poles asunder.
Dryden, 1690: For two such Tongues will break the Poles asunder; / And, hourly scolding, make perpetual Thunder.

So we've got a poetic usage of "break the poles asunder" from 1690, and a usage of "wide as the poles" from 1719; and then the two memes combine into "distant as the poles asunder" in another play as early as 1753.
I've also located a similar phrase in C. J. Hempel's translation of Schiller's Semele:

1861: The mighty sea shall in defiance leap / O'er barriers and the unfathomable abyss / Shall send forth peals of thunder; / Lightnings hiss / Through gloomy night, and rend the poles asunder!

My German is not good enough to know if Schiller's original wording directly suggests the phrase, or if Hempel was just looking for a rhyme and happened to remember his Dryden.

1782: Empöret steigt das Meer, Gestad' und Damm zu Hohne, /
Der Blitz prahlt mit der Nacht, und Pol und Himmel krachen, / Der Donner brüllt aus tausendfachem Rachen ...

The proximity of "Pol und Himmel" does suggest that at least some writers are envisioning celestial poles rather than the poles of the Earth in this connection.


texts: "will be all present" or "will all be present"

texts:
Which one do we use for this sentence :

Student chairs will all be present for this meeting or "will be all present"


texts: Why does English have the word "broomstick"?

texts:
Oxford Living Dictionaries' dictionary of North American English defines broomstick as :

  1 The long handle of a broom.
  1.1 A brush with twigs at one end and a long handle, on which, in children's literature, witches are said to fly.

There are other tools with long handles which do not get a dedicated name: shovelstick, rakestick, etc. Moreover, a broom without a stick is a brush, so the differentiation seems unnecessary. Why did the handle of a broom get its own name when so many other tools didn't?


texts: Is the sentence "I made up an essay for submission" semantically correct?

texts: Is the sentence "I made up an essay for submission" semantically correct in the sense of writing your own essay? Does the phrasal verb make s.t up always carry the connotation of the made-up thing being fake or disingenuous?


texts: Stylistically, can "Curation" be used as a noun to describe the items being curated, instead of the act of curating? (e.g., a curation, these selected curations, etc.)


texts: Which one is correct? I am quite sure about "I'm Spanish", but is it wrong if I add an "a" before "Spanish"?


texts: Term for a quote's 'author' or 'creator'

texts:
I am looking for the correct term to describe a quote's author or creator.

For example, the quote is:

  If you are going to go through hell, keep going.

The quotee/quoter/author(?) is:

  Winston Churchill


texts:
I came across this sentence which seemed strange to me:

Wedding songs turned dirges when my slain would-be was taken to her resting place.

What is the meaning of would-be? Is it grammatically correct? How? Please help?


texts: Is "we had better continue her piano lessons" awkward?

texts:
We had better continue her piano lessons.

I know that the sentence "We had better let her continue her piano lessons" is better, but is the first sentence awkward or ungrammatical?


texts: Which is right: “on Manhattan” or “in Manhattan”?

texts:
I want to meet some persons in Manhattan but I'm not sure how to message them about it.

  I'll meet you on Manhattan.
  (OR)
  I'll meet you in Manhattan.


texts: What is the term for a child that's in between toddler and adolescent?

texts:
I'm trying to come up with terms to describe the various age ranges for children up through teenager and I'm stuck trying to describe someone who's in the age range of about 6 through 10. In other words, I'm trying to fill in the gap:

newborn -> infant -> toddler -> ??? -> pre-teen -> teenager

I considered that "pre-teen" technically fits that age range, but to me, that term strongly implies a child in the 10-12 range (just before they hit 13 and become a teenager). I also considered but rejected "pre-pubescent", which also technically fits, but is more focused on a child's level of sexual maturity, which is irrelevant to the situation I'm trying to describe.

Most references I found simply refer to children of that age as a "child", but doesn't that term apply equally to anyone under the age of majority, or at the very least, anyone pre-adolescence?


texts: meaning and origin of "syndicated feeds"

texts:
How would you explain the meaning of the word syndicated in conjunction with feeds and the origin (etymology) of this?
It's used quite often on the web.

I already found a few definitions but need more careful and precise explanation.

Please, omit explaining what RSS channel or feed is. This is familiar for me.


texts: "I would prefer [it] if the meeting [would be/was] postponed"

texts:
Because I am still in New Haven, I would prefer [it] if the meeting [would be/was] postponed.

What is the correct way of saying this? I am curious as to with or without it, and would be versus was?


texts: User tutorial: to be written in first or second person?

texts:
I'm writing a user tutorial but I'm unsure as to what perspective it should be written from e.g., first, second? The tutorial is a friendly guide showing how the user should do x.
Example:

Viewing your file there are some special instructions you should be familiar with.
Viewing our file there are some special instructions we should be familiar with.
..and refers to the version we want to install.
...and refers to the version you want to install.

Which is correct?


texts:
I'm not sure which one of these apparently flatly contradictory proverbs I heard first but I have definitely heard both several times.  One of them is:

  There is honour among thieves.

Another is:

  No honour among thieves.

Do they simply mean the opposite of each other, therefore, at least in my mind cancelling each other out, or is there a subtlety here that I am not picking up on?  Are they related, perhaps sharing an origin and then somehow becoming inverted?


texts: Does 'when' suggest order of action when used in a present perfect sentence?

texts:
In
"I had eaten when he arrived."
Does that say that I finished eating first before he arrived?

Also, in
"I had eaten sea urchins when I went to Japan"
Does that suggest that I've already eaten sea urchins before arrival to Japan? Or does that say that I ate sea urchins while I'm in Japan?


texts: Which one is right "Comment" or "Comments"

texts:
On webpages ( in contact-us forms and comment boxes ) plural and singular for of comment and comment/comments are variably used.

1) Add a comment

2) Submit comment

3) Post comments

etc

On facebook, it's a button "comment" ( besides like button )

What is right. Plural or singular form ?


texts:
In an extremely well written and justifiably incisive article on British austerity measures since the credit crunch of 2008, Peter Goodman of The New York Times writes the following :

  In these communities, Mrs. Thatcher’s name is an epithet, and austerity is the latest villain: London bankers concocted a financial crisis, multiplying their wealth through reckless gambling; then London politicians used budget deficits as an excuse to cut spending on the poor while handing tax cuts to corporations. Robin Hood, reversed.

The writer uses a colon, then (unusually for modern writing) a semi colon and I wonder if he has baulked at using another colon.

Is 'Robin Hood, reversed' a sentence in its own right ?

Or should it be added after yet another colon ?


texts:
I've seen a few folks in various situations complain about the phrase "vast majority". The only online reference I can find for such dissent is (unfortunately?) the urban dictionary.

I grant that the phrase is not particularly eloquent. But it is idiomatic and I use it myself quite frequently in technical documents to represent a figure over 90% but where I don't want to break the flow of text to present the actual value.

So my question(s):

Is the idiom "vast majority" something to avoid? Does it leave a bad impression?
What are (better) alternatives?


texts:
They do not hesitate in bending the truth however they see fit to
  their cause. At times they are rigorous and precise; at times they
  just play dumb.

versus

  They do not hesitate in bending the truth however they see fit to
  their cause: At times they are rigorous and precise; at times they
  just play dumb.

Am I correct that both the above sentences are acceptable, and the choice boils down to preference?
Preference aside, what arguments can be put forward to choose one over another? (For example one can argue that if separate sentences make complete sense it should be preferable because long sentences are harder to read, etc.)


texts: What is it called when someone uses your name to describe an act?

texts:
I often hear people say, for example:

  Uh oh.. he's done a Bob

(Bob being the name of a person who does such acts, the act being anything)

Is there a word for that? What would you call that?


texts: "the element of imprecision" and "casual and bold"

texts:
Ran into this:

  For the hundredth time he resented the element of imprecision, the margin of guesswork that entered into the business. The project as he had worked it out was casual and bold, the risks were considerable.

For context: here

1)Is the the margin of guesswork that entered into the business the appositive of the element of imprecision?
2)Could you kindly rephrase the whole 2 sentences? I mean if you were to say it with different simpler words while the meaning would not change, how would you say it?


texts: Is there an adverb for circularly using the function/method you are discussing?

texts:
For instance, John Mill argues in his essay "On Liberty" about how you must address controversy of opinion in order to become more certain of your truth, and in the structure of his essay he brings up counter points and defeats them in order to prove his truth.
Something of the essence of reciprocal, circular, reusing, using what you've established
Adverb form like mistakenly, or correspondingly
"Mill proves his argument by _____ addressing counter points to prove his truth."
Perhaps there isn't a word for this?


texts: Synonym for Misrepresentation in Political Context

texts:
Imagine two candidates for public office. Both say the invasion of Country X was completely unjustified and illegal. That's a true statement, therefore, they're both speaking the truth up to this point.

However, they also say that, if elected, they'll do what they can to prevent similar military adventures. The problem is that one, Candidate A, really means it, while the other, Candidate B, has no intention of reforming anything; he's just pretending to be an agent of change in order to get votes.

One could therefore argue that Candidate B is lying, even though everything he says about the invasion of Country X is true.

Is there a term for this kind of lie, other than misrepresentation? I've checked out some synonyms for misrepresentation but haven't found any that really work in this context. I thought there was a specific term for a politico who speaks the truth while lying about his intentions.


texts: Interpretation: Further actions to come out of this discussion

texts:
In a business email, I found this expression.
I wonder how I can make a full sentence from this expression: "Further actions to come out of this discussion."
What I'm guessing is: "Further actions will come out of this discussion". If I'm not wrong, how can this short form be applied? Is it possible to use "noun to verb" instead of "noun will verb" always?


texts: What's the meaning of the expression "[something] much?"

texts:
I see this often. I don't understand what it means. Just a noun followed by "much?". What would something like that mean? Maybe it's not "real English". I don't know.

For example, some of the titles of episodes of Totally Spies! —

Physics 101 Much?
Freaky Circus Much?
Computer Creep Much?
Evil Coffee Shop Much?
Super Nerd Much?


texts: Can we say "probable" where we have to say "possible"?

texts:
Can we say probable where we have to say possible?

What is the exact meaning of that? I have searched this, but I didn't get the perfect example of that.


texts:
Which is the correct phrase:

  You have 5 days left of your trial.

or:

  You have 5 days of your trial left.


texts: When do we use Verb ING at the beginning of sentences?

texts:
Could someone please explain the grammar structure of the lyrics below?

  Sitting here wide awake

  Thinking about when I last saw you

Since the beginning of these lyrics starts with an "ING" form, it has me curious if the reason the "ING" needs to be put after "Sit" and "Think" is because we would like to use it as a noun? Or is it a contraction of:

"I was sitting here wide awake"

"I was thinking about when I last saw you"?

Would it be correct if I say:

" Sit here wide awake "

" Think about when I last saw you"?

Took these lyrics from the song "Standing in the dark" by the way.


texts: "Unpaid" in the operative complaint? What is being paid in an operative complaint?

texts:
Below is a quote from the judge dismissing the Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania.  Emphasis mine.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/a-federal-judge-threw-out-a-major-trump-campaign-lawsuit-in-pennsylvania-issuing-a-blistering-opinion-refusing-to-disenfranchise-7-million-voters/ar-BB1beNha?ocid=msedgdhp

"One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a
plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments
and factual proof of rampant corruption," Brann wrote. "That has not
happened. Instead, this Court has been presented with strained legal
arguments without merit and speculative accusations, unpaid in the
operative complaint and unsupported by evidence."

It is a use of the verb "to pay" I have not seen.  I think "unpaid" refers to the speculative accusations.  I think "pay"  means to give something of worth usually in exchange for something else.   In a worthy case, what would one pay these accusations that here are unpaid?  Or are the accusations themselves what the case should be paying, as one might "pay respects" or "pay homage"?
Or is this the other sense of pay as in "pay out a line" to describe gradually releasing a length of cord or rope?  Would a good case pay out accusations?


texts:
I know that those who code in Python could be called Pythonistas, Pythoneers and Pythonists and Ruby programmers could be called Rubyists.

Anyways, my question is, are there nicknames for other language users? More specifically, is there one for a person that codes Java?


texts: Formal Word/ Phrase for "major chunk of"

texts:
I want to write the following sentence:

The "major chunk of payments" under the conditional cash transfer scheme will be made when the child enters high school.

Since this is for an academic essay, I need to replace "major chunk of payments" with something more formal.

Some background: This scheme gives cash transfers at different stages of schooling,but the major payment is made on entering high school.


texts: Is "aggr-" a prefix and what does it mean?

texts:
I'm not sure if "aggr-" is a prefix but I can see some words starting with it. like:

Aggregate
Aggressive
Aggravate
Aggrieve
Aggrandize

I'm here to ask if it has some meanings or they are all started with "aggre-" by chance.


texts: Is there any mnemonic to recall use of have/has, including exceptions?

texts:
I can't remember where to use "has" and where to use "have".
If I practice the exceptions and keep them revise few months I can toughly superficially memorize, but I again forgets them.

I'm non-native English-user as well belong autism-spectrum. I feel problems with memorizing discrete, 2-bit informations, for say bus route numbers, friend's birth-dates and institutions. whereas I've no problem with memorizing bigger yet continuous informations like how phloem loading and unloading mechanism works, or of what family a plant could be, or what does integral-calculus actually mean.

Could anyone could provide mnemonics to remember the use of Have and Has with their exceptions?


texts:
Another person who greatly influenced my boyhood was my first cousin, Samsuddin. He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameshvaram.

[WINGS OF FIRE]
I don't understand why "for" is  used here instead of "of".
Could "of" have been used here instead, without changing the meaning of the sentence? Or is there a difference between their usage in this context?


texts: Meaning of an embedded sentence and how this usage is called (example)

texts:
I have stumbled upon on the following sentence, and I do not understand how the bold one is related to the others:

And here, in Saddoth, beyond the domes and terraces and columns of the
huge necropolis, a necromantic flower wherein forgotten lilies live
again, there bloomed the superb and sorrowful loveliness of
Thameera,

What does this sentence (in bold) relate to? If I take it out, the meaning of the whole construction seems to be the same. But I am unsure - is the flower referring to the necropolis, or to Thameera?


texts: Words which mean: "second largest", "second smallest"

texts: English has the word penultimate meaning "second to last". Are there similar words for size, as in "second largest" and "second smallest"?


texts: What is the plural form of: unit of measure

texts:
So, basically I want to know, how to pluralize the phrase Unit of measure

I have a group or collection of unit of measure like liter, micro-liter, kilo, etc and I want to given to that collection a correct title.

Is Unit of measurements correct? or Unit of measures?


texts: What is it about English that makes it favourable for writing limericks?

texts:
I was reading some limericks and I thought about composing them, and I find it very easy to come up with lines that fit the metre.

Is there something about the English language that makes it easy to come up with limericks?

Is there something inherent in English that makes it easy to find rhymes?


texts: 'I couldn't use to' instead of 'I didn't use to be able to/I used not to'

texts:
I heard this over the weekend -

I've been going to evening classes and now, at last, I can touch type.  I couldn't use to do that.

I would normally say

'I didn't use to be able to do that', or

'I used not to be able to do that'.

Both of my 'correct' answers seem very wordy.  Can it be said better?


texts: What's the difference between 'just' and 'fair'? OED gives slightly different definitions, but they are not distinct enough as to be clear (to me). Is the difference simply idiomatic, or is there a semantic difference that I am not aware of?


texts: Why “the Aye is 51, the Nay is 48,” not “Ayes are 51, Nays are 48”?

texts:
I was caught by the following message when I was listening to ABC News broadcasted on October 25th:

“Senate Republicans shut down a Democratic filibuster today, and Amy
Coney Barrett Supreme Court nomination setting up a final vote for
tomorrow. “Democrats knew there is little to prevent Barrett
nomination from moving forward.”  “On this vote the Aye is 51, the
Nay is a 48.”
Still Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer protesting:  “This is about
Senate majority deciding to break faith with the American people.”

I don’t know who was reading this portion of the announcement of the result of Senate voting on confirmation of Judge Amy  Barret's inauguration as Supreme Court Judge. It was a woman’s voice.
I puzzled if I misheard the paragraph in question for “the ayes are 51, the nays are 48.” because the number of votes is plural. So, I asked several of my English language enthusiast colleagues to hear the recorded disk. All of them heard the same way as I heard.
Is “(The) Aye is 51, (the) Nay is 48,” grammatically correct? Why it’s not “Ayes are 51, Nays are 48”?


texts: AmE pronunciation of 'cliché' vs 'niche'

texts:
I have noticed that some Americans (not all) pronounce the word 'niche' as 'nitch' (IPA /nɪtʃ/) rather than as 'neesh' (IPA /niːʃ/).

  niche
  Pronunciation: /niːʃ/
  Pronunciation: /nɪtʃ/
  (Oxford Dictionaries)

Why do these same people not pronounce 'cliché' with a "tch" (IPA /tʃ/) sound?

Both words are loanwords from French, but the treatment of the "ch" sound seems to be inconsistent. Is it due to the difference in accentuation?

Also, which groups of people use 'nitch' as the pronunciation for niche?

Is it wrong or can one argue for it?

As a Brit, unsure as to internal American differences in pronunciation, I was wondering if nitch is more of a western pronunciation. I have heard that it becomes more like British English as you go East.


texts:
The following is a transcript of the well-known recorded lecture by Prof. Michael Sandel of Harvard University (the cited portion starts at 43:36):

The only argument this painter makes is that the work was necessary to be done. But this is no good answer, because by the same rule, this painter may go through every house in Edinburgh and do what he thinks proper to be done without the landlord's consent, and give the same reason that the work was necessary and that house was the better for it.

For easy reference, I'll number the sentences as follows:

"The work was necessary to be done."

"This painter may do what he thinks proper to be done without the landlord's consent."

Here're my questions:
Is (1) ungrammatical, grammatical but awkward, or natural?
How about (2)?
If you find (1) or (2) awkward or ungrammatical, how would you rewrite them?


texts: One Word Alternative for "Increase Productivity"

texts: Is there a single English word (preferably a verb) which can replace the phrase "increase productivity" or "increase your productivity"?


texts: What word would be used for someone who eats meat but not meat products?

texts: As described in the various answers here, there are words out there for people who eat poultry and/or fish while not meat. Is there a word for a person who eats meat, fish, poultry, and plants but not their byproducts (dairy and eggs)?


texts: What’s the difference between "How can I help you?"and "How can we help you?"

texts: I heard this expression in a video about buying clothes.In that video,the shop keeper welcomed the customer by saying "How can we help you?".But he is the only one in that store.So I wonder why he said "How can we help you?" instead of "How can I help you?" Are they interchangeble?


texts: Why do certain verbs not agree with the preposition "for"?

texts:
These two sentences seem the same to me:

*I watch it for practicing English (wrong)
I use it for practicing English

But the first seems wrong while the other is fine.  Do "Watch" or "Listen to it" (which also seems wrong) have some kind of special rules about how they work with "for"?


texts: What do you call someone who doesn't observe details?

texts: My mom is so ... that I had to explain that I was being sarcastic.


texts: Sentence beginning with "Between [year] and [year] "

texts:
I’ve just been told it is wrong to put a comma after an “introductory time period”, for example:
“Between 1990 and 2003, diligent seekers found hundreds of incorrectly placed commas in all manner of texts.”
Is this really a hard and fast rule?
If the sentence were very short, I might agree there's no need for a comma, but in the actual case (of which my sample above is an approximation), I see no need to delete it. But the editor has added a note indicating that the comma actually violates a rule, and I'd like to get that confirmed (if it is true).
Looking forward to your comments, thanks!


texts: Simple present and present continuous in the same phrase

texts:
''I hunger for sand! I yearn for a desert, pining for a draught...''

Is this sentence (the second, that is) from above grammatically right? I mean, can I use the two present tenses, simple and continuous, in a combination like this?


texts: Is the last comma in "A, B, and C, do X" correct?

texts:
Does the following sentence require a comma after the word "meal?"

  Quizzing the waiter, complaining about the menu, and criticizing the meal, detract from your advocacy.


texts: If it is the "better" of two options (rather than "best"), is there still the "worst" of two options?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Use of the superlative when only two items are present

When choosing between two items, I've always been told it's incorrect to say one is "the best".  Rather, you should say one is "the better" of the two.

First, is this correct?

Second, if this is correct wouldn't it be inconsistent to say one is "the worst" of the two?  What should you say instead?


texts: Origins of the phrase “You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”?

texts:
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

This phrase is famously used in Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan. The metaphor itself is so simple and powerful I'm sure it would've been a proverb by now had we weather forecasts a couple of hundred years ago. Now imagine my surprise when I learned that Dylan apparently coined the phrase himself:

  Most famously, its lyric "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" was the inspiration for the name of the American radical left group the Weathermen, a breakaway from the Students for a Democratic Society. In a 2007 study of legal opinions and briefs that found Bob Dylan was quoted by judges and lawyer more than any other songwriter, "you don't need a weatherman..." was distinguished as the line most often cited.

Does this mean that there is no factual evidence of this phrase being used prior to the song, or did he just make an existing phrase (more) popular?

I'm not trying to belittle Dylan's influence—just plain curious how far it extends in this case.


texts: What is the common term for Accidents (Roadside, plus house damages, building damages)

texts:
It may seem silly, but being a non-native English speaker (and writer), I find it difficult sometimes to choose appropriate words for my writing.

Can someone help me to find a COMMON word for all the "Artifical accidents", like Roadside accidents, building collapse, or fire, or someone who falls from the building?


texts: Why don't adjectives agree with nouns in English?

texts:
I had never actually thought about this before now, probably because I'm a native speaker of English. But once I gave it some thought, I was actually a little surprised that adjectives in English do not have agreements (as far as I know), especially given the numerous intricacies of the English language and its largely French/Latin influences.

Did English have adjective agreements at some point? Are there no adjective agreements because there is no grammatical gender?


texts: Where does the term "shiv" (a makeshift dagger) actually come from?

texts:
Practically everyone has read (or seen in a film or on TV) about a situation in which someone "stuck a shiv" into someone else. The image is of some kind of dagger, and the most common use I have observed for shiv is as a term for the kind of makeshift dagger used by prison inmates.

I use the term dagger because the shiv in this case appears to be a thrusting weapon, not a slashing one. Yet its etymology is not really clear. Etymonline describes it this way:

  "a razor," 1915, variant of chive, thieves' cant word for "knife" (1670s), of unknown origin.

The American Heritage Dictionary weights in with:

  A knife, razor, or other sharp or pointed implement, especially one used as a weapon. [Probably Romani chiv, blade.]

Several other sources plump for the Romani explanation, dating from the early 20th century, but while Collins says the term's origin in British English is the Romani one, it insists that the American term is from 1855-60, although on the subject of actual origin it is strangely mute. This makes me suspect it also favors the Romani origin—but how?

All this seems something of a muddle. Certainly the usages may have sprung up independently, but then there's that "of unknown origin" given by Etymonline, dating it from the 17th century. Can anyone provide a clearer picture?

Side note: I wonder if there could be some kind of line traceable between this term and one meaning of shiver, about which Etymonline says:

  "small piece, splinter, fragment, chip," c. 1200, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word, related to Middle Low German schever schiver "splinter," Old High German scivero, from Proto-Germanic *skif- "split" (source also of Old High German skivaro "splinter," German Schiefer "splinter, slate"), from PIE root *skei- "to cut, split." Commonly in phrases to break to shivers "break into bits" (mid-15c.). Also, shiver is still dialectal for "a splinter" in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

When I entertain this term in my mind's eye I see a sharp shard of glass or ceramic that could look very much like a dagger.


texts: Where did the slang usages of "cool" come from?

texts:
I see and hear two general slang usages of cool - one meaning great (illustrated by a and b below), and one meaning acceptable/okay (illustrated by c and d).  The following are Dictionary.com's four (read: two) definitions of the slang cool:

  14. Slang
  a. great; fine; excellent: a real cool comic.
  b. characterized by great facility; highly skilled or clever: cool maneuvers on the parallel bars.
  c. socially adept: It's not cool to arrive at a party too early.
  d. acceptable; satisfactory; okay: If you want to stay late, that's cool.

Why did cool come to mean great or acceptable? Also, can anyone find some early usages?  The biggest clue I have is this (from Dictionary.com):

  Slang use for "fashionable" is 1933, originally Black English, said to have been popularized in jazz circles by tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

Googling Lester Young 1933 "cool", etc., did not yield me any fruit.


texts: What's a word like "posterity", but not for so long into the future?

texts:
I am looking for a word like "posterity". I was going to use it but it feels like too long into the future. I looked up the definition for posterity and got:

  succeeding or future generations collectively:

dictionary.com

I don't need for future generations, but rather for keeping for the next few years (5-10 years)?

I'm looking for an alternative that fits in place of the word posterity, because that's nice an concise. I thought of "for record keeping purposes" instead of "for posterity" but that doesn't feel as concise. Is there a word that I could use instead?

Here's my example sentence:

  "I've also attached the binary to this email for _ "


texts: Please this statement, "Order for a plate OF any kind or Order for a plate ON any kind", which is correct?


texts: What does the phrase: ''Let's throw a little wrench in his plans'' mean?

texts: I've found this phrase in a game or movie. Don't remember now. What does it mean? Is it some kind of idiom?


texts: Can blue also have a positive connotation?

texts:
I came across a statement that roughly translates as:

  I hope everything is blue with you.

The original German/English statement is:

  Ich hoffe, alles ist "blue" bei dir

This was sent to a German friend by a rather famous German sports person (J. Klinsmann, soccer) who has been living in the US for quite some time.

For me, the above expression suggests that "blue" has or is supposed to have a positive connotation, but I was unable to find any such meaning in my dictionaries.


texts: What does the writer mean in this paragraph?

texts:
I'm not native speaker and now i'm translating a book about women for a male client, named "The Manual: What Women Want and How to Give It to Them"(sorry for bothering you again about this sensitive topic and i hope admin will not delete it). But my client is very picky, so i must translate very correctly. Now i have a confusing paragraph that you can see in my photo.

The writer are talking about the necessity of persistence when pursuing women. I think "when you ask for a woman’s number, insist that she give it to you even if she says that she cannot" is not good example, because if i "insist she give it to me even if she says that she cannot => she reject me, so i will "cling on forever, stalk, or come back her" => conflict with previous opinion "persist does not mean to cling on forever, to stalk, or to come back despite a woman requesting otherwise", so why does the writer write this example in the paragraph? Or "insist" has special meaning, right?


texts:
I am developing a software that requires users to enter hospital or clinic name. The software treats clinics and hospitals the same way. I wanted to know a single word that can be used for any medical institution.

Example use cases:

In forms:

  Hospital/clinic name: ___________

In URL:

  http://website.com/hospital/search

While I can use something like "Medical Facility" as blanket term for clinic, hospital, trauma center, nursing home, etc... I do not like it because:

it's big.
it has two words so URLs wouldn't look great http://website.com/medical_facility/search.

Thanks. By the way, 'no' is perfectly OK answer.


texts: I've looked in the dictionaries and I looked in Dictionary.com for "Formal" and it says "excessively ceremonious" what would ceremonious mean? According to the dictionary it says "following ceremony" and it makes me wonder... why cannot English dictionaries be so simple?


texts: Differences between "technic" and "technique"

texts:
Are those synonyms? Is one more acceptable in a certain dialect than the other?

I checked their definition on The Free Dictionary but it's still not clear to me.


texts: What happen for knowledge in the past tense

texts:
For an action in the past tense, it means the action stops at the current time. For example, "I lived in that house" means that I lived in the house sometime in the past and do not live in the house now.

I want to know if this holds for stative verbs like know. In other words, does "I knew him" means I came to know him sometime in the past, and I forget him now or have not seen or heard of him for a long time?


texts:
The independent clause, “He is carrying a heavy load”, might be connected with a dependent clause of varying order:

most of which is to be consumed.
which most of, is to be consumed.
of which, most is to be consumed.

What are the reasons for the variation? Is it simply a question of style or preference? Is there a right answer?


texts: Chaining of preposition "to" with "prefer"

texts:
The standard way to use "prefer" when comparing level of preference is to say:

I prefer A to B.

I've read something about voting and have come across multiple preferences using "to" chained together. This is from Wikipedia:

This is illustrated by the following example of Condorcet's voting paradox:

40 voters preferring candidate A to B to C
35 voters preferring candidate B to C to A
25 voters preferring candidate C to A to B

This sounds strange to me. I'm not sure why this is. In any case I have done a search on this and I get many results for:

"prefer a to b to c"

It seems that most results are of things that discuss math or decision-making theory, just as the part I quoted does. However I realized that these particular results are for a sentence comparing abstract terms (stand-ins or variables) "a", "b" and "c", not actual things like, I don't know, dogs and cats.
I know answering a question such as if this is normal or standard may not be possible to answer. However is there something going on here grammatically that would allow us to accept that it's grammatical based either on a general rule, or is it a simple understanding that indeed it is possible to chain your preferences in this way?
Also, can we conclude that there's actually nothing strange about this construction by way of considering other examples as analogies?

Scissors beats paper beats rock? (I don't think so).
The floor is made of tiles over ceramic over concrete (I'm not sure if this is analogous).


texts: When to use "And" at the start of sentence?

texts:
I know that and is used to join two sentences or phrases. There are some places I've read that have
And is used at the beginning of a sentence. What are the occasions when this is done?


texts: Word for the possibility of being many things at once

texts:
I'm searching for a term describing the possibility of an entity to be seen many different things at the same time. The general concept of being able to categorize an entity into several context-dependent abstractions.

A car is not only a car, but can be:

A vehicle
A toy
A risk
A pollutant
A Faraday's cage
A source of taxation
A trap
A tool
A weapon

Words that does not capture the proper meaning:

A car is flexible.
A car is adaptable.
A car is versatile.

Words that might work

Multifaceted
Multi-sided

I need a general noun for describing this property in a ontological context

Multifacetedness (Does not sound natural)
Multi-sidedness (Even less natural)

Let's try some sentences

You could be anything you want, [multifacetedness] is universal.

We are not allowing [multifacetedness] in this game, you can only be one thing at a time.

Philosophers all agree, [multifacetedness] is fundamental in how we perceive and make sense of the world.

Is there a better word for this?


texts: "The childrens' blankets" or "The children's blankets"

texts: I know that when we're talking about something that is possessed collectively by all children it is "children's". What about a scenario where one of the possessed nouns belongs to each individual child?


texts:
Here's the example sentence.

"There have been arguments about who was/has been responsible for the accident."

I'm not a native speaker. In my language(which is Chinese), when you cause an accident, and then you are immediately responsible for the accident. Additionally, responsibility lasts forever, so if I used "was" in the sentence, I feel weird, and "has been" looks like the more proper one. However, I really want to hear the opinion from the native speaker.

Which one is more correct in this sentence?
What's the difference between them?


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "failure to fail"?,

  And If I close now by professing that abject/ecstatic failure to
  fail, it is only by way of reminding myself..."


texts: What does “He is not a man about town” mean?

texts:
There was the phrase “He is not a man about town” in the article of Time magazine May14 – 20 issue, titled “Brazil’s War on Big Oil,” reporting the oil-spill accident which took place in the sea 230 miles away the northwest of Rio de Janeiro on November 7 last year.

The article introduces the background of Gorge Buck, President of Chevron’s Brazil subsidiary who was accused of his and his company’s responsibility for the accident by Brazilian federal prosecutor as follows:

“He is 6-foot-5, slender, soft-spoken, and earnest to the point of social awkwardness. - - He lives with his family in Rio’s fashionable Ipanema beach district. He is not a man about town.”

As I am unfamiliar with the usage of “about a place,” I consulted OALD at hand.
There were so many definitions of “about” as a preposition, adverb and adjective, but it seemed to me that only the definition 6. among them – “(Especially BrE.) able to be found in a place” as an adverb is somewhere near to the phrase, “a man about town” used here.

What does “He is not a man about town” exactly mean? Don’t we need “the” before “town,” if we are refering to Rio?


texts: Meaning of "unbounded save" - The Souls of Black Folk by WEB du Bois

texts:
I am trying to understand a small portion of the following quote from The Souls of Black Folk:

  The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rests upon the Negro people,--a disappointment all the more bitter because the unattained ideal was unbounded save by the simple ignorance of a lowly people.

I understand this quote overall as it speaks to, among other things, the disappointment of African Americans, even after being emancipated. However I don't quite understand what Du Bois meant when he said "unbounded save."

Can someone clarify that last part of the sentence and why he chose to use those words? I haven't seen such English at all in recent literature, so I'm having a bit of trouble.


texts:
Eg : You may use it how many ever time.

I know the sentence can be phrased better but I just wanted to given an example.

So my question is, Is "how many ever" a correct usage?


texts: What is the meaning of the phrase "a sing song soldier"?  A teacher was helping a student in crisis and another teacher referred to her as a sing song soldier.  I have not been able to find any reference to its meaning by doing a standard internet search.  Thanks!


texts: When "be it" is at the beginning of a sentence, what kind of structure do you call it?

texts:
I think it is kind of inversion and I'd found some info on Wikipedia, but I cannot recall what term this structure is, I even remember some examples from Wiki, say, "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
Can anybody help me out?


texts: What is the origin of the expression "I'm broke"?

texts:
When people have no money with them they usually use the expression "I'm broke"

Does anyone know how this originated?


texts: Multiple kinds of non-plural items in a parallel list

texts:
OK, I was recently asked a question by a foreign friend on an English sentence that they created.

Mixing and matching all kinds of vegetables, seafood, and meat, some of my newly added dishes are this and that.

To me, this sounded awkward.

With a parallel list structure, I should be able to do the following with the above...

Mixing and matching all kinds of vegetables
Mixing and matching all kinds of seafood
Mixing and matching all kinds of meat

So, this part seems wrong; therefore, I concluded that, while seafood and meat don't technically have plural forms, this case requires that seafood and meat be seafoods and meats. That is because of the preceding words, all kinds of. This means that you have more than one kind of meat (ie. pork, beef, chicken, etc...).

Other than that, it feels like the flow isn't correct.

Should I add While to the beginning of the sentence?
Should there be a better flow into some of my newly...


texts: Science and Philosophy are two types of ______

texts:
This is kind of a hard question to ask. I'm doing some research on the human mind and its attributes - learning, thinking, etc.

There are many different kinds of thinking/reasoning, and I'd like to put together a basic classification. It's confusing, because psychologists, physiologists, philosophers and others all have different approaches.

Anyway, consider the following: Science, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality

These are examples of what? For example, you could say that science and philosophy are overlapping "thinking spheres." I wouldn't call them "knowledge spheres," because philosophy isn't dependent on hard facts, of course.

There's probably a common term that fits here, but I just can't think of it.

EDIT: I wrote "common word" in my original post but should have wrote "common term" instead.

Don't shoot me, but I chose lens over discipline (the answer with the most upvotes). In fact, neither answer is exactly what I was looking for. Discipline sounds a little too rigid when some of the "things" I seek to categorize can be hard to define (e.g. spirituality). On the other hand, lens, by itself, doesn't really work.

Then I went back and reread 1006a's answer and noted the term disciplinary lens, combining both words.

I asked a really tough, somewhat ambiguous, question, and I got a lot of good tips from all the answers.


texts:
I saw an interesting post on here that shows tenses in a chart. I use an even more schematic chart to explain active tenses to foreign students.

Given that you are all linguists I'd like to know what this community thinks of this chart. I am aware that some of you may not see tenses in this way and may even take exception to my scheme. In my defence, my students rarely make mistakes when selecting a tense. Given that the tenses often do not match those in their languages this is no mean feat.

I also give them this chart when they first come to me so that as they learn new tenses they know where they fit in the overall scheme of things. Tenses are traditionally taught sequentially, leaving the student to learn each tense in isolation and based on application. By giving the chart at the very start I am able to give the student a way of expressing time in many different ways very rapidly. Typically my students are using all but the bottom row by the end of year one.

The other advantage to this chart from a teacher's point of view is that it also makes the explanation of auxiliary verb usage very straightforward: none in the top row, To Be in the second, To Have in the third and both Be and Have in the fourth. It can be seen at a glance that Be is required in the continuous tenses and Have is required in the Perfect tenses.

So here is a simplified version of the chart showing the 1st person of the verb To Work:

I look forward to your comments.

Tom


texts:
Is it only valid to use "more likely" as in "Polar bears are more likely to be found in cold places" or could you also say "Polar bears are more likely found in cold places"?

Can you use "more likely" with an adjective? So e.g. "Bodybuilders are more likely to be healthy persons" or "Bodybuilders are more likely healthy persons"?

Regarding incline is it correct to say "Rich people are more likely inclined to donate more money" or would you say "Rich people are more likely to be inclined to donate more money"?

3 questions at once, but I think they're so closely related that it is ok...


texts: "Would of course be" vs. "of course would be"

texts:
I am not sure about the position of 'of course' inside a sentence.

Please consider these two versions and comment on that:

  A comprehensive documentation would of course be highly valuable...
  A comprehensive documentation of course would be highly valuable...


texts: Why are reverb effects referred to as "wet" or "drippy"?

texts:
Reverb is a type of natural effect you can get playing in wide open spaces, giving a sort of echo/reverberation as the name implies. But I'm referring more to emulated reverb through use of a guitar pedal or other processor.

Many people refer to reverb as "drippy" or "wet" when dialed to 11. I think usually referring to spring reverb (where old reverb units used springs to get that sound). I naively once believed 'spring reverb' meant 'reverb as though you were playing in a water spring' before learning it meant actual springs.

But where does the water metaphor come from? My best guess was reverb became a mainstay of American rock-and-roll with bands like The Beach Boys, where reverb was used heavily. I usually associate heavy reverb with surf rock. Could this be where the water metaphor comes from?

Many musicians also describe their signals as "wet" or "dry", as some kind of spectrum. There's a lot of instances where "wet", "drippy", "soaked", etc come up and I wonder if they all share a common source.


texts: What does "trail" mean in "trail of death"?

texts:
I read this sentence saying:

  The wildfires leave trail of death in California.

What does the word "trail" mean here? The closest meaning I found in dictionary is "marks by actions". So, is it like "The fires lead to the result of death in CA"?

Thanks


texts: Is the sentence “It provides people an easy way to communicate.” grammatically correct?

texts: My inclination is to say that the sentence needs to be “It provides people with an easy way to communicate.”, but I'm struggling to explain why. Certainly provide can be used transitively (“I provide food.”) or intransitively (“The government provides.”)—is it a question of valency?


texts: Which is correct - 2TB memories or 2TBs of memory?

texts:
I am working on a manual where they are trying to say that something support from 2 TB (terabytes) to 8 TB (terabytes) of flash memory per channel.  The audience is programming engineers.

It is written:
"Supports 2TB-8TB flash memories per channel."

I believe that it should be written:
"Supports 2TBs-8TBs of flash memory per channel."

Which one is correct?


texts:
Here's an example of the phrase "to boot":

  My wife made a disgusting looking dinner, and it tasted awful to boot!

The implication of the "to boot" is that the fact that the dinner tasted awful was as disappointing (or perhaps more so) than the fact that it looked disgusting.

It's a colloquial, possibly slang phrase, but I'd like to know what it's origin is, and whether it perhaps has other more esoteric uses.


texts: English equivalent to "Titre ronflant" in French

texts:
In French, one occasionally describes a senior-level exec as having a "titre ronflant", which is to say someone whose title is clearly senior all while sarcastically denoting that it's basically super-sized and lavish.

Is there any equivalent US/UK expression, or is the more neutral sounding senior-level exec the only one that's commonly used?


texts: Is there a word or phrase that expresses the feeling of nervous anticipation as you wait for the result of something, whose outcome you cannot control and could be either good or bad?


texts: What should I call the English spoken in UK?

texts:
I have read that saying British English is too specific, and that I should say English English.

Is that true?

When I say British English, what do people think I am referring to?


texts: Punctuation in a Figure Caption (Abbreviation List)

texts:
I have question regarding punctuation in a caption of a figure.

Lets say, for example, I have a figure that depicts a certain schematic.

In the caption of the figure I want to list all the notations/abbreviations of the components, e.g.

  R — resistor, C — capacitor, L — inductor.

Technically, it seems, I would need to use an em dash, albeit everywhere else in the text I use the em dash without the surrounding spaces. If I keep the same style for the captions (which is something that most style guides insist), the list starts to look a bit "unusual" (R—resistor, C—capacitor, L—inductor).

What is the correct way to punctuate such a notation/abbreviation list?