texts: Why are both the zero and definite articles used with these phrases?

texts:
How can the same noun take/miss a "the" in the following sentences.

(A) The Food and Drug Administration intends to authorize emergency
use of the vaccine on Friday.
(B) The country is expected to authorize the emergency use of the
vaccine.
(C) Two runoff elections in Georgia will determine control of the
Senate.
(D) The Georgia Republican is facing a runoff election that could
determine the control of the Senate.
(E) Production of renewable diesel is up 7 percent this year.
(F) Energy companies are increasing the production of renewable
diesel.

I wonder how to use or omit the definite article "the" in these instances. Is any semantic difference produced by using the definite article?
At first glance, I have a vague idea that (B) and (C) are more appropriate than (A) and (D), respectively; although, I cannot explain why.
I believe that "the" should be omitted in (E), as it is actually, while I am unsure about the reasoning behind the use of "the" in front of the noun "production" in (F).
All of the sentences are from a major U.S. newspaper, so they are, apparently, grammatical. Yet, I suspect some subtle difference in meaning.
Explain the logic behind the use of "the."


texts: Is 'with' necessary in 'So you must be careful /with/ what you write on the internet'?

texts:
So you must be careful what you write on the Internet.

Regarding the  sentence above, is it not supposed to be

  So you must be careful with what you write on the internet.

For me the original sentence sounds wrong. Can someone explain to me why it is correct/wrong? Is the with not necessary?

Thank you.


texts: How did “equivocal” come to mean what it means?

texts:
The word unanimous is reasonably easy to trace: it comes from Latin unum (one) + anima (mind). If several people are of the same unanimous opinion, they could be said to be speaking “of one mind”.

The word equivocal looks very similar. It comes from aequi (same) + vocal (from vox, voice). It would seem that it should mean “speaking with the same voice” and thus have a meaning similar to unanimous. Yet, it means the opposite, and it is unequivocal that is a synonym of unanimous.

How did equivocal manage to reverse its meaning?


texts: punctuation to indicate non-grammatical pause or omission

texts:
Is it inappropriate to use an ellipsis to create a conversational pause in a typed sentence, in a situation where it's not appropriate to use a comma or a dash or anything else? There's no grammatical pause; there's just a conversational pause that would be present if the typed sentence were spoken aloud.

Example (from a comment that I posted on a Buzzfeed video):
"So many props for using 'risen' correctly...and then rescinded for placing a redundant 'up' behind it."

Can I correctly use the ellipsis that way?


texts: Difficulty understanding some phrases in a paragraph

texts:
Can anyone help me explain the total meaning of this paragraph?

  Exercise 3.43: Suppose that the balances in three accounts start out
  as $10, $20, and $30, and that multiple processes run, exchanging the
  balances in the accounts. Argue that if the processes are run
  sequentially, after any number of concurrent exchanges, the account
  balances should be $10, $20, and $30 in some order. Draw a timing
  diagram like the one in Figure 3.29 to show how this condition can be
  violated if the exchanges are implemented using the first version of
  the account-exchange program in this section. On the other hand, argue
  that even with this exchange program, the sum of the balances in the
  accounts will be preserved. Draw a timing diagram to show how even
  this condition would be violated if we did not serialize the
  transactions on individual accounts.

Source

There are many things I do not understand in this paragraph. My questions are:

"if the processes are run sequentially, after any number of concurrent exchanges," - as I understand it, the word "sequential" and "concurrent" mean contradictory things. As far as I know "sequential" means one at a time and "concurrent" means occuring at the same time or simultaneous. I translated this as: if the processes are run one at a time, after any number of simultaneous exchanges. How could simultaneous things be happening if things happen one at a time? I am totally confused.
"the account balances should be $10, $20, and $30 in some order." - Does this mean we should find out all orders of exchanges that lead to three banks having $10, $20 and $30 respectively?
"the sum of the balances in the accounts will be preserved." - This is a little clearer. Does preserved means "the account balances should be $10, $20, and $30 in some order." just like what is said previously?

Can anyone totally explain things I don't understand. Thanks.


texts:
I found the phrase “old hat” in the following sentence of The New York Times’ article (April 20) titled, “The Tech-Savvy Traveler.”

  AT 28 years old, Soraya Darabi is an old hat at staying on the cutting
  edge of social media. Her first job out of college was in the
  communications department for Condé Nast Digital for products like
  epicurious.com. At 23, she became the manager of digital partnerships
  and social media at The New York Times and went on to help found
  Foodspotting (foodspotting.com), a Web site and digital application
  that aggregates real-time dining advice.

What did the journalist mean when she wrote "an old hat"?


texts: Do you use a comma when the object comes before the subject?

texts:
Would you use a comma after the object in a sentence where the predicate comes before the subject?

For example, if the sentence is "One friend I saw.", would you put a comma after the word friend?


texts:
I was reading editorial in Times Of India and read these two lines:

  This October as many as 3.2 million Indian debit cards were reported
  to have been compromised in a big breach of financial data. Even
  as that investigation continues, demonetisation has sent e-banking
  and e-wallets on the up and up with inadequate digital literacy to
  cope with this shift.

I don't understand following lines:

What does have been compromised mean actually ?
The writer talks about some investigation. What is the investigation ?

The article is titled 'Check cyber crime', dated 13 December 2016 in The Times of India.


texts:
Which is correct "Look at what I found." or "Look what I found."
The former has always bothered me, but I'm not sure what the grammar rules would say.


texts: Does one consider "vs." or "versus" when alphabetizing?

texts:
I work at a game store, and my manager insists that "versus" is to be considered when alphabetizing, and is not in the same league as "a, as, the, and, of, or," and the like.

Although I do deem it more important a word than those other smaller ones, I don't think it should be considered when alphabetizing.

What's the right way?


texts:
In the context of it's use in the song "Copperhead Road".

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steveearle/copperheadroad.html

Examples:

"He headed up the holler with everything he had"
"I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road"


texts: "I know right" what can I use instead of that phrase

texts: I am a 50 year old woman but I work with a lot of younger women. In conversations I use, "I know, right?", so often now that they make fun of me.


texts:
1)Can we use discrete data as antonym for cumulative data ?
2)can discrete data  be cumulative data?
Simple yes/no in both cases would suffice.


texts: What are the differences between "disseminate", "propagate" and "spread"?

texts:
What are the differences  between the three words: disseminate, propagate and spread?

Here are some examples from a fill-in-the-blank test:

  News is __ by means of television and radio. (disseminated)
  Don't __ malicious reports. (propagate)
  Some people are keen on __ rumours. (spreading)

I want to know the specific differences of the three words, and why they cannot be replaced with each other.


texts: What is the correct word for an unopened product/box?

texts:
I am looking for two words or possibly one.

When a device like a cell phone or laptop has not been opened to be repaired. For example if you open its back panel, it looses its guarantee.
If you buy a device such as a brand new cell phone or TV, and you are the first person to open its box by cutting/tearing the seal, what is that called?

I can think of "a sealed box/phone; untouched, intact, security sticker, warranty void sticker,


texts: Non-derogatory term equivalent to "artsy-fartsy"

texts:
"artsy fartsy" can have a loose interpretation, but in this specific case I'm using it as an adjective to describe a person who:

Considers anyone who isn't invested in humanities/arts a lesser person
Turns away those interested in art/humanities because their interests do not align with this person's own (e.g. wanting to make a computer game historically and culturally accurate concerning the Spanish, rather than learning the language and/or travelling abroad to Spanish-speaking countries)

I would like to use an equivalent word in a respectful tone, similar to "they're confused" as opposed to "they're idiots". Is there any word or short phrase that can be used, respectfully, as an adjective to clearly and concisely communicate the contents of the bullet points above?

"bigot" is pretty descriptive, but is rather derogatory and doesn't imply anything about arts/humanities.


texts: How exactly does one determine when to use I or Me?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I say “not I” or “not me”?

I got into a good argument with myself when a Lecturer asked:

  "Who said that?"

and I replied

  "I."

Actually, I didn't just want to stop there, but I felt there was no need to continue and that it was correct. However some argued that "Me" was the correct reply.

Since the reply was not a sentence, it was difficult for me to conclude whether I should refer to an objective Me or a subjective I.

So in short, I want to know whether there is any other clear parameters that defines when to use which and how?


texts: A word used to describe something that is popular and generic

texts:
There is a word that for some reason I forgot.

It is used to describe something that is popular, generic and people maybe only do it because it is popular.

Like when you see someone’s playlist and realize they are just straight from the radio and his taste in music is very .....


texts: Where should I put the adverb "always" in these narrations?

texts:
Look at these two statements involving indirect (reported) speech:

  He advised me to speak the truth always.

or

  He advised me to always speak the truth.

Here, I am confused about setting the adverb "always".
Please give grammatical explanation.


texts:
Is it grammatical to say "My favorite food is apples"? If not, is there a similar language structure that begins with the words "My favorite food" that I could use to explain this? Perhaps it would be grammatical to say "My favorite foods are apples".

I do not want to use the word 'apple' in  the singular form, if possible. I want to use the word 'apples' in plural.

Thank you for reading.


texts: Can "fatal disaster" mean man-made misfortune?

texts: Yesterday, I talked with a friend and mentioned that the Lord Jesus had the potential of suffering a fatal disaster in Judea, because many people tried to kill Him, like the high priest, King of Herod. He thought I couldn't use "fatal disaster," because this context refers to specifically man-made murders, whereas "fatal disaster" usually refers to an accident or a natural catastrophe. What do you think?


texts: What are the differences between the following responses to the question "how are you?"

texts:
I am good.
I am well.
I feel good.
I feel well.
I am feeling well.
I am feeling good.
I am doing good.
I am doing well.

A former English teacher told me #1 is improper English and to use #2. Is this true and why so?

I Google searched this issue and found this article. The author clames both I am good and I am well are proper English, though I don't follow the argument.

  The nitpickers will tell you that "well" is an adverb (and therefore
  modifies verbs) and that "good" is an adjective (and therefore
  modifies nouns), but the situation isn't that simple.

To me this statement is empty. So what if "well" is an adverb and "good" is an adjective? What grammar rule is being contradicted if this were true?

I have heard the argument that #5 and #6 are referring to the capacity to experience the sensation of touch. What I don't understand is how #3 and #4 can't be interpreted in the same way?

Does it make a difference if the asked question is "how have you been?" versus "how are you?"?


texts:
He studied all day long.

He -> Pronoun

studied -> verb (in past tense)

all -> ??

day -> noun ?

long -> adverb ?

I would like to know the part of speech that all is in this sentence. My train of thought: (all day) is a noun in combination. So all might be an adjective ?


texts: Should I say the project's status or the project status?


texts: Word or idiom for someone holding (seemingly) contradictory views

texts: I think some good words would be conflicted, or confused. As an example of context, think of someone who believes in freedom of speech, but, at the same time, they would support banning comedians who make jokes about certain issues that person cares about.


texts: Difference between "shake", "tremor", "shiver", "tremble"

texts:
I put only four words in the title, but I know there are more. Right now I remember jerking. I know the difference between shaking and vibration. But I don't have any idea about the usage of others. It seems their meaning is almost the same but their usage is different. I heard tremor a few times when someone described a earthquake.

So could anyone explain the difference with examples?


texts: Is it OK to have an apostrophe at the end of a sentence?

texts: Earlier I wrote a sentence that happened to end with a plural possessive. Is this OK to have? For example, "I got the guys' costumes, but not the girls'." looks odd to me. It would be easy to reword or simply add costumes at the end, but is it grammatically correct?


texts:
(1) In this question on math.SE a question about the meaning of 'either' before a list which ends with 'and'. The meaning of

either a, b, c, or d

is from this answer sort of clear in that it means a or b or c or d. Even if or can mean all included, the either seems to indicate an exclusivity.  so exactly one of them. But what does

either a, b, c, and d

mean? Is this even current English?

(2) in the same question there is the question about what

any one of a, b, c, and d

means. So I would also like to know what

any one of a, b, c, or d

means?


texts: I'd say he was reclining if only he weren't propping himself up on an elbow like that - into something that could almost be called ... uh ... well, sitting position. I mean, shouldn't someone who's reclining be more ... uh ... horizontal? What am I missing here?


texts: Terms for one who always reacts against the status quo?

texts:
The term reactionary means one who reacts against change, trying to reestablish the previous status quo. Reactionaries are seen as a conservative social force.

But what is the term for one who always reacts against the current status quo, no matter what it is?

Many different kinds of people may react against the current status quo but most are doing so to achieve specific goals that are important to them.

But some people will just react against the status quo no matter what it is, because "hey, I'm a rebel." If their apparent goals were achieved they would simply react against the new status quo.

Children do something similar, they test boundaries by reacting against their parents - rebelling is an end in itself and not necessarily due to a deep seated rejection of whatever it is.

I'm looking for a term that captures the knee-jerk nature of this reaction, that has the same negative connotations that reactionary has for many people, i.e. rebel/restore are practically algorithmic rather than intellectually driven.


texts:
The dictionary doesn't list it as a verb. However I get some hits on Google, even on Google Books:

  She heaved and sobbed and snotted all over his shirt.

Source.

Is it okay to use it as a verb? Or the grammar police will give me the death penalty?


texts: Is it "as God is my witness,“ or "as God as my witness"?

texts: I have seen both "as God is my witness", which makes sense but sort of puts God in a supportive role, and "as God as my witness", which sounds wrong to me but I don't know, might be an olde tyme phrasing that is only used in that phrase.


texts: What does this sentence mean? I don't understand "only ever" here

texts: Dear friends who I normally only ever get completely leathered with,


texts: The order of adjectives: opinion and length

texts:
I have studied in most grammar books that adjectives that express opinion, such as wonderful, attractive and lovely come before other descriptive adjectives. But in the following construction, you will notice that the length adjective short came before the opinion adjective ugly.

  Mr. Wilson is a short ugly man.

I am just wondering why the speaker used this order. Is it a matter of taste for a native speaker to say it this way? Or is there another interpretation for this?


texts:
What is the right term for breaking or dividing a sentence into fragments, wherein each fragment still contains a thought/meaning?

e.g.:

  Sports can ostracize people/ who are not very good at them./


texts: Compound verb in: He likes to sing and play

texts:
In the context of compound subjects and compound verbs, the subject below is he. However, the tricky thing here is the verb(s) of the predicate part. Since the first verb is likes [to sing] then the second should be likes [to play]. In other words the compound verb would not be sing and play but rather likes to sing and likes to play.

The original sentence and expanded forms are:

He likes to sing and play.
He likes to sing and likes to play.
He likes to sing and he likes to play.

The question is: what is the compound verb in sentence 1 above?


texts: What does "an irate ex waving a maintenance order" mean?

texts:
I said:

  Finally, I found you Grumpy!

(Grumpy is the name of the site)

Grumpy replies:

  That comment has the distinct flavour of an irate ex waving a maintenance order! :-)

Can you please explain to me what Grumpy meant by that?

I know irate means anger.


texts:
Is there an idiom for describing someone who is oversensitive (emotionally, not physically)?

I vaguely remember something along the lines of "he is all exposed nerves".


texts: How do I know where to place the stress?

texts:
In questions that start with interrogative pronouns such as: what, when, and why, should they be stressed?

For example, is the word "time" stressed in the sentence? Is "What" stressed, too?

  What time is it?


texts:
'Tis is the contraction of it is. I heard that it was contracted due to the way it's pronounced--the accent; because the accent is at the T. So, just wondering if American English uses this 'tis, where T's tend to be pronounced as D's.

If there is, how do you pronounce it? Diz or tiz?


texts: Expression for increasing the intensity of a fire

texts:
Imagine something is smoldering. If someone blows (supplies additional oxygen) at this object the right way, the fire will increase. Note that if you blow too strongly, the fire may extinguish.

The same effect happens in forest fires when the wind sometimes makes a small fire large.

What is the expression for increasing the intensity of a fire by blowing at it?

Usage in a sentence:

  Autumn winds [...] the fire of their love.

This means that in summer the involved parties were slightly attracted to each other (low intensity of fire), then the autumn came, and thereafter they've fallen in love with each other completely (high intensity of fire).

Candidates I found:

to blow the fire
to fan the fire

Russian equivalent: раздувать огонь


texts:
I want to use 'tip of iceberg' in a recommendation letter. In particular, I give an anecdote which illustrated that this person is very diligent and skillful. Then I say "such instance is merely a tip of iceberg, throughout the entire 5 years, I have witness many demonstrations of high level performance of so and so....."

Am I using the phrase correctly? Does 'tip of iceberg' usually associate with negative meaning?

From a webpage, it says that:

  The phrase “tip of the iceberg” is used to refer to a situation in
  which you or someone else is seeing only a small part of what is
  really a bigger problem. So, the iceberg is used to refer to the fact
  that there is a very big problem, and the “tip” is a small part of
  that iceberg, or a small part of the bigger problem. The phrase has a
  negative meaning to it – and is usually used to describe situations or
  people that are difficult.


texts: More poetic way to say "my feelings for you"

texts:
What is a shorter way, as well as a more poetic or "deeper" way of labeling emotional, loving feelings for someone?

What I'm trying to say is:
I refuse to undermine my feelings for you by being trite


texts:
Are all these sentences grammatically correct? Which ones are more common?

"I'm not sure what's true love" vs. "I'm not sure what true love is"

"I don't know who's your brother" vs. "I don't know who your brother is"

"The problem is who can we get to replace her" vs. "The problem is who we can get to replace her"

I know as a general rule, we shouldn't use question word order in indirect sentences (e.g. "*He didn't know where was I going" is obviously wrong.) But there is also this example that is definitely correct in this way: "I'm not sure who is in charge." while I think it would be wrong to say: "I'm not sure who in charge is."

I don't know how to explain this. I also have no idea about the first three sentences!


texts: I had always understood the subjunctive mood to mean a hypothetical present tense. However, I  think it might also imply that the hypothetical event is outside the realm of possibility. Is that necessarily the case?


texts: What's a word to describe something that is "non-English?"

texts:
I was trying to write a sentence in which I referred to films produced in non-English-speaking countries in languages other than the English language, but with English subtitles added to them:

  ...collections of foreign films with English subtitles...

As an English-speaking person from an English-speaking country, were I speaking to an audience of people from English-speaking countries, that might work. However, my audience consists of people who are not only from English-speaking countries, but from around the world. How can I rephrase the above expression to avoid using the term "foreign"--which is relative to whatever country is "native"--to describe those films, but to still have the meaning of being films that are not produced in the English language?


texts: Quiz Show Jeopardy: Are the 1910s called "nineteen-tens" or 'nineteen-teens'?

texts:
On the quiz show Jeopardy there is a question asking "The first modern crossword is published & Oreo cookies are introduced". The clip of the show can be seen on YouTube.

The contestant who guesses says:

  What is the nineteen-teens

The quiz master replies

  Yes, the nineteen-tens. Correct!

So is the 1910s pronounced 'nineteen-tens' or 'nineteen-teens'? Or are they both acceptable?


texts:
When an entire article is about a word, should that word be in quotation marks on first reference?

I'm editing a piece about the word "grit." I'm wondering whether to put it in quotation marks in the first sentence, as it's used in virtually every sentence thereafter, and I wouldn't want to use quotation marks throughout.

The first sentence is –

  [Name] defines grit as the combination of passion and perseverance.


texts:
The following passage comes from a Washington Post article:

  It was a moment eight months in the making: "Melania Trump bounding down the White House lawn to the vegetable garden made famous by her predecessor."

I can't understand the context of passage.

Is above passage inversion of below passage?

  Bounding down the White House lawn to the vegetable garden made Melania Trump famous by her predecessor.


texts: Term for metonymy becoming an accepted word for the original, over time

texts:
A metonymy:

  ... a thing or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept

The only example I can think of is tea. Tea can refer to the drink or the evening meal. I think the latter meaning only came about because an evening tea was accompanied by an evening meal and so the term itself became a shortcut for people to say "tea": I'm going to have tea.

It's safe to say that the drink (tea) has become a metonymy for the evening meal (tea).

I'm looking for a term to describe this process, when the original meaning of a word changes into something else, but both forms are used interchangeably?

I think semantic change or diachronic change could fit this definition but I'm not sure. Examples of semantic change from online give examples of words where the original meaning is no longer used and is replaced with its newer form. E.g. in Middle English meat used to refer to all types of food, where as today, meat refers to the animal flesh and food being reserved for all of the categories. Or gay meaning happy but now it's used in its derogatory form.


texts: Meaning and synonyms of 'toll' in 'death toll'

texts:
As a foreign locutor..., the word toll seems weird in the following sentence in The New York Times:

  Death Toll Rises From Wind and Flooding

Automatic translations do not help very much : without, costs, number, call, toll ?

Could you give me other examples of sentences with the word toll, or provide synonyms for it?


texts: Would the British say "clearance" or "clearing"?

texts: What is the definition of clearance?  Is it the word of choice to describe a clear spot in the jungle to land a helicopter? Or would clearing be used to describe this?


texts: Can the word FAQ be considered offensive?

texts:
The pronunciation of abbreviation FAQ is not uniform (cf. What is the commonly accepted pronunciation of FAQ?). One of commonly encountered ones is /fæk/. This one, at least to my untrained, non-native speaker ear sounds really close to the word

   fuck /fʌk/

The etymology of the abbreviation, coming from the early and wild years of the Internet of the 80s, might suggest that this similarity in pronunciation was not a coincidence. Referring other people to read the FAQ  might have been a tongue-in-cheek way of telling them  to "go away" (though I have not found any source to corroborate that little theory of mine). On the other hand, the abbreviation is used now even by "serious" entities, like the European Commission (e.g. here).

My questions:

Is this similarity in pronunciation recognized by native speakers as well? In other words - does the word FAQ have a slight vibe of vulgarity? If it does - is it probable that a person might feel offended when it's used in (probably official) verbal or written communication?


texts: When did a mother giving birth become the deliverer instead of the deliveree?

texts:
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003), gives meaning 3 of deliver as follows:

3 a (1) : to assist in giving birth (2) : to aid in the birth of b : to give birth to c : to cause (oneself) to produce as if by giving birth

Definition 3b appears to be by far the most common birth-related meaning today, to judge from a Google Books search of publications from the year 2000 using the phrase "delivered a healthy." In 28 of the first 30 matches involving babies, the mother is named as the deliverer. (In the other two, credit goes, respectively, to "Jim and Bob" and to "the Lord"; in two additional instances, a company delivered "a healthy profit" or "a healthy 6.8% return.")
But in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1756), the only birth-related definition of deliver is this one:

6 To disburden a woman of a child.

And a book by Jacques Guillemeau, translated in 1635 bears the evocative title Child-birth, or, The Happy Delivery of Women. The implication here seems to be that the delivery is of women from the burden and suffering of childbirth.
My question is: When did the notion that a mother delivers her child, as opposed to being delivered of her child, arise?
I had expected the Oxford English Dictionary to provide a fairly precise answer. But its handling of the relevant definition of deliver is surprisingly limited:

3 To disburden (a woman) of the fœtus, to bring to childbirth ; in passive, to give birth to a child or offspring. Rarely said of beasts. (The active is late and and chiefly in obstetrical use.)
c 1325 Metr. Hom. 63 For than com tim Mari mild Suld be deliuerd of hir child. ... 1480 CAXTON Chron Eng. lxxi. 53 Tyme come that she should be delyuered and bere a child. 1484 —Fables of Æsop 1. ix,  *A bytche which wolde lyttre and be delyured of her lytyl dogges. 1568 TILNEY Disc. Mariage C viii, To have thy wyfe with childe safely delyvered. 1611 SHAKS. Wint. T. II. ii. 25 She is, something before her time, deliuer'd. 1685 COOKE Marrow of Chirurg. III. I. i. (ed. 4) 168 The third time they sent and begged I would deliver her. 1754–64 SMELLIE Midwif. I. Introd. 70 A better method of delivering in laborious and preternatural cases. 1805 Med. Jrnl. XIV. 521 By making an incision in the urethra..the patient might be delivered. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 448 The queen..was in due time safely delivered of a prince.

From the OED's treatment of deliver definition 3, it appears that the notion of the mother as deliverer came surprisingly late in history. Does anyone know how late?


texts: How is "erm" pronounced in the UK, and why is it spelled that way?

texts:
I see the interjection "erm" written in internet forum posts fairly often, and I have occasionally seen it in British novels, in opinion pieces and articles on cultural topics in newspapers and magazines penned by British authors, and in British film subtitles.

How is "erm" pronounced in the UK, particularly in the south of England?

Unlike, say, "uh" or "um," which are listed in most of the online English dictionaries, "erm" as an interjection is largely absent from the dictionaries.

I think Google.com's (American-influenced) translator pronounces it somewhat like /ɜːm/, similar to the American pronunciation in the recording linked to in the Wiktionary entry.
Google.co.uk's translator gives a more non-rhotic pronunciation.

These Youtube recordings linked to below, which purport to demonstrate how the word is pronounced, sound broadly similar to the Google.com "American" pronunciation, with a rather pronounced r influence on the vowel:

How to pronounce erm - Pronuncation Academy
How to say or pronounce erm
How to say erm!

But the pronunciations I have heard in films where the subtitled spelling was given as "erm" have always sounded much more like the American pronunciation of "um." An example of that is in most of the pronunciations in these outtakes from interviews of the actor Emma Watson.

Almost no native American English speakers use "erm" in practice in the US, so it does not seem very useful for the guides to provide the supposed American pronunciation for this word. (A search of the Corpus of Contemporary American English finds about 160 uses of "erm" (case-insensitive), almost all of those being for the acronym "ERM." By contrast, a search of the British National Corpus finds over 60,000, with most of those being of the interjection (from a quick glance).

So the questions are:
- How is "erm" pronounced in Britain, especially in the south of England?
- Roughly when was this spelling of the word widely adopted in the UK?
- Is the current spelling based on an earlier rhotic pronunciation that has largely been abandoned?
- Or was it, perhaps, a contraction of "er, um"?

I see that someone claimed in the discussion on Wiktionary that the "explanation of how "erm" and "um" are distinct is completely made up. They are the same thing and are pronounced the same. "Erm" is simply the British spelling and "um" is the American."
If that is the case, why is the British spelling not "um"?


texts: What are different kinds of shops based on the size, structure and location?

texts:
In my native language there are so many words to mean different kinds of shops based on the size, structure and location.

I'm not talking about the types like grocery shop, barber shop, meat shop, book shop, etc. I'm talking about kinds of shops like below:

Mall: Meaning a big shop or a complex with many shops
Store: Meaning a small shop.
Booth shop: Meaning a very small shop, may be temporary built one room shop.

I don't know the words otherwise I can explain clearly and I'm looking for those words. For example what do you call a shop which is setup on the road side which has no roof?


texts: What is the term for when a clause explains what preceded it?

texts:
I can't find out through google, because "explanation" of course just provides basic grammar lessons.

What is the term for a clause which explains a thought etc. preceding it?

So e.g.:

I thought Jones was an idiot, they behaved so strangely


texts:
The above mentioned regulations do not apply to the conditions defined here.

Is it possible to use the phrase above mentioned as a noun with the definite article "the" in English?

  The above mentioned does not apply to the conditions defined here.

Is it possible to use the verb in the plural after the above mentioned?


texts: Is an "elevator pitch" called "lift pitch" in the UK?

texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_pitch
No mention of "lift pitch" there. What do British people say when they give an "elevator pitch"? Since "elevator" is "lift" in the UK, you'd think it would be "lift pitch", but maybe there's a completely different phrase used there?


texts: "Speak out against the fraud" - meaning?

texts:
He suggested that we speak out against the election fraud.

What is the exact meaning of this sentence to natives:

that he asked us to say that there was no fraud in the election (so we say there was no fraud),
that he asked us to publicly talk about the election fraud (so we say there was fraud)


texts:
What is the profession of adding special effects to a video called? Using programs like Adobe After Effects, for example.

I am looking for a name other than video editor since in my interpretation that describes a job of arranging the video in a sequence, using video editors like Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas.


texts: What is the meaning of "at a first pass"?

texts:
There are a lot of examples for the usage of "at a first pass" on the web. But I couldn't find a meaning for it anywhere. Is it an idiom? A phrase?

Example:

  Thus, at least at a first pass, to be a rational agent in a
  corresponding sense is to have a general disposition to believe just
  what one’s evidence supports.


texts: Some sentences begin with a construction like "May I suggest that...." These are phrased as questions but are really statements. Should such a sentence end with a question mark or a period [full stop] (and what is the rationale)?


texts: Is it formal to use "If" in a business email

texts:
Is it formal to use "if" in a business email.
For instance, "If you have any questions or concerns...."
Our division's seniors always use it to answer the customer`s emails.
Is it formal or is there any other words to express the same?
Thank you.


texts: What is the meaning of this sentence "We got on the bus downtown"

texts:
Which one is correct?

We were going downtown by the bus.
We got on the bus when we were there (downtown).


texts: Why are the United States often referred to as America?

texts:
People often refer to the country US as America and to the people from the US as Americans.

As far as I know, that's the only case in the world where a continent's name is used for a country's name (let me know if I'm wrong). Why does that happen?


texts:
What would be the passive of the following sentence?

  You dare not talk to her.

Also,  is it right to say "you dare not talk to her" at all?


texts: Relative clauses with prepositional verb phrase

texts:
The people ø you work with are your 'colleagues'.
  The people that you work with are your 'colleagues'.
  The people who you work with are your 'colleagues'.
  The people whom you work with are your 'colleagues'.
  The people with whom you work are your 'colleagues'.

Which sentence is the least likely and why?


texts:
Grammatically, for he/she/it we use "does" or "doesn't" like in,

He doesn't eat meat.

but these days I'm observing the usage of the above sentence(especially in American movies) like this,

He don't eat meat.

So, after a lot of observations, I'm assuming that both usages are correct.
My assumption - When to use "don't"?
In temporary situations like,

He don't have a pen.

when to use "doesn't"?
In more of a permanent situation like,

He doesn't speak French.

Please correct if my assumption is wrong.
Or tell me if both the below sentences are correct.

He doesn't speak French.
He don't speak French.


texts: Term for twisting, distorting, souring, tends to look for evil intent of others

texts:
She has a tendency to take whatever a person says and (twists, sours, distorts, inflames as evil) to make some one look bad or way worse than they really are.

She would be having a conversation with another in a family setting. All the rest understands what the other is saying, but when "she" hears it, it is evident by her response that she was taking it as a negative about herself, or something she likes, which it was not.

Then she will single a phrase out from what was said and answer, obviously from a distorted perception, then embellish the distortion coming out with an inflamed, corrupted and evil twist, to sour everyone else's view of the person she is arguing with, to make herself seem good.

What would be a term to refer to such a way of communicating? Verb for the action, or adjective to describe it or term for such a Disorder?


texts: What is the word for lack of fashion sense?

texts:
Is there a word for people lacking practical fashion sense?

A typical definition could be:

  something people wear which they think is trendy but actually doesn't suit them and looks awkward


texts: Monday's vote opens the floor to debate on the bill and the Senate is expected to schedule a full vote by week's end.


texts: Grammatically correct use of whom vs who

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

Franz did not like his teacher M. Hamel either; whom he felt was strict and cranky.
Vs
Franz did not like his teacher M. Hamel either; who he felt was strict and cranky.

I feel the former is more appropriate than the latter but book says it with "whom". Can someone clear up the rules of who vs whom again?


texts:
I am wondering why you can say
"I robbed a bank and stole the money..." or
"I robbed a post office..." or
"The bus was robbed while the passengers were at the restaurant"

But it sounds extremely strange to say:

"Last night, my car was robbed and they took my stereo, my money and all of my CDs."

The more common way to express that would be my car was broken into but why can't you say my car was robbed or my purse was robbed"?


texts: Which is best, "to access" or "of access"?

texts:
When describing someone who is reclusive is it better to say:

  He was difficult to access.

or

  He was difficult of access.


texts: Can “was not ᴠᴇʀʙing” and “will not ᴠᴇʀʙ” ever be exact equivalents in reported speech?

texts:
Do English speakers understand this sentence:

I told him I wasn’t playing soccer anymore.

Exactly as they would this sentence:

I told him I will not play soccer anymore.

If so, why would they consider those two to be exact equivalents?


texts: An alternative of "What is the impact of"

texts:
I am writing my thesis and I have been using the question What is the impact of X on Y? quite a lot. As an alternative, I change the word impact to effect, which is still the same.

Is there any alternative question to ask about the effect of something on another thing. For example, The effect of using the genetic algorithm on the network design.


texts: Any etymological connection between mechanical noun, "gear", and derivatives of the Greek "gyros", meaning 'circle'?

texts:
Is there any etymologyical connection between the mechanical noun, "gear", and "gyros" (Greek) / "gyre" (English) / "gyrus" (Latin)?

Because they both deal with round objects, and I'm not sure how gear went from "equipment" into "toothed spinning thing"...

"gyrus" comes from "gyros", and both mean 'circle', and are the origins of "gyre".


texts: "wallet" vs. "[change] purse" in NAmEng and BrEng vernaculars

texts:
Is a man's change purse sometimes called wallet by their owner?
If so, what would they usually call their actual wallet to distinguish it from their change purse?

purse:
a small bag, pouch, or case for carrying money: a change purse.
wallet Ngram wallet vs. billfold:
a flat, folding case with compartments for paper money and other items, as credit cards, driver's license, and sometimes coins, carried in a pocket or handbag. Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary


texts: When is it okay to use "harmful symptoms"?

texts: Is the phrase "harmful symptoms" acceptable (does it sound natural) to a native English speaker? If so could you suggest a sentence using it?


texts: All-Round, Versatile, Everyday - For Food

texts:
I need to come up with a creative, catchy way to describe a food item (2-3 words), and I have been given the following words as a starting point

versatile
everyday
all-round

Any ideas on what I can use to summarise these but in a "marketing" lingo? It is for packaging design.

I've come up with some options but they don't describe the key words. I am stuck. Here they are:

the traditional classic

the classic choice

traditional choice

real good

the original creamy/tangy

the traditional creamy/tangy

your daily choice

daily favourite

everyday favourite

classic favourite


texts:
All too often my boss will say to me "I'll circle around with you later"

I assume it means "I'll catch up with you later" or something of the sort, but I feel the "circle" implies some sort of redundancy or endlessness loop of checking in on me.  Is that right?


texts:
What is the antonym for "stigmatizing"?

I would like to describe this idea that people will stigmatize or [???] someone based on his conduct. Like saying that he is dishonorable [stigma] or a man of honor [???].

I feel admiring cannot express what I mean.


texts: Name of Phenomenon? I worry that once I STOP doing an action “just to be safe,” the thing I'm being safe from will occur

texts:
I've always had feelings like these before. I've seen sad movies when I was younger, but the thing that got me the most was the kid (who lost their parents) said, "The last thing I ever said to them was I hate you! " Ever since, I would ALWAYS say "I love you" to my parents when they would leave my sight. Whether we went to our work/school or even if I would go upstairs to play games, I would say "I love you." One day, I didn't say it. My dad was leaving to work and I didn't get a chance to say it. I was worried that THIS was the moment where he dies.

With that little backstory, I hope it conveys the feeling I'm trying to describe. I always say "I love you" just in case they would die, the last thing they heard was those words. I have a feeling that once I stop saying it, they will die.

Is there a single word to describe this feeling? This phenomenon?

Another way to look at it in a less morbid setting: You're looking for your headphones. You can't find them. You stop looking. They show up.

Or another example: I have my hand on the tooth under my pillow. I wait for the Tooth Fairy. I stay awake, and she doesn't come. Once I fall asleep, she arrives.

The minute you STOP doing something, that's when the [something] gets answered. Make sense? Is there a word for this?


texts:
I'm reading a text and there is a phrase which I don't know the meaning of:

A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, high-nosed and
pale, with something perhaps of petulance about the mouth, and with
the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose pleasant lot it had ever
been to command and to be obeyed.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

What does "cultured face" mean?


texts: How did "poll" ("top" or "head") semantically extend to "cut someone's hair"?

texts:
I don't understand this semantic extension (cf. Etymonline) because it hasn't happened to "head" or "horn"! Unquestionably, "head" isn't the same thing as "cut someone's hair".
Poll Definition and Meaning - Bible Dictionary

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only POLL their heads. ( Ezekiel 44:20 )

E.g. you can't replace "poll" with "head", because "head" doesn't mean "cut someone's hair".

Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only HEAD??? their heads. ( Ezekiel 44:20 )

poll [13]

‘Head’ is the original and central
meaning of poll, from which all its modern uses
have derived. The ‘voting’ sort of poll, for
instance, which emerged in the 17th century, is
etymologically a counting of ‘heads’, and the poll tax is a ‘per capita’ tax. The verb poll
originally meant ‘cut someone’s hair’, a clear
extension of the notion of ‘top’ or ‘head’ (the
derived pollard [16] denotes an ‘animal with its
horns removed’ or a ‘tree with its top branches
cut off’); this later developed to ‘cut evenly
across’, which is what the poll of deed poll
means (originally it was a legal agreement cut
evenly across, signifying that only one person
was party to it – agreements made between two
or more people were cut with a wavy line).

Word Origins (2005 2e) by John Ayto. p 385 Left column.


texts: Using "only" to describe amounts? Is it used correctly here?

texts:
Say someone notices there's frost and ice on the road. "Wow, there's ice on the road..." they exclaim. They then look at the temperature reading and see 9 degrees celsius, "...but it's only 9 degrees outside!"

Is that correct usage of the word "only"?

Thanks!


texts: Earliest attestation of "does/do/did not + verb"

texts:
It seems to me that the negation "[conjugated verb] + not" was used in parallel with "[conjugated "do"] + not + verb" in Early Modern English:

When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. (Te Deum, 1549)
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1595)
And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. (King James Bible, 1611)
Lo, he abhors not the Virgin's womb. (O Come, All Ye Faithful, 1841)
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. (Great Is Thy Faithfulness, 1923)

Even today, "be" still uses the former structure.
What is the evolution of these two forms of negation?


texts: How do you spell “mere” an English(England)word?

texts: How do you spell “  mere” An English word meaning a well known walking path across the field or shortcut?


texts:
Is this comma usage correct with the sentence? I placed them more to add a pause after each listed item, but if it is grammatically incorrect I'm not sure I want to use it.

"It wasn’t wandering down Locust Walk, or enjoying warm, buttery Insomnia cookies, or even realizing I could make daily visits to the Reading Terminal Market that persuaded me to choose the . . ."

Thank you!


texts: Is there a term for celebrating one's tonal memory?

texts:
There is "tonal recognition," but the term seems to be ambiguous. I'm looking for a better one.

Let me describe the phenomenon:

You hear a tune, any tune. It may be pop music, or jazz, or rock, or opera, or symphonic music, or a theme song. At the same time (or on the same day, anyway) you experience something truly memorable; something pleasant, perhaps.

Days, weeks, months, or years pass.

Suddenly you hear the tune again, and it brings back all those memories.

You may or may not be truly aware that the tune is linked to those memories in your mind. You just like to hear it.

Your liking to hear it (and this is crucial) has nothing at all to do with the tune's actual artistic value. You assume it's a great tune because it makes you feel happy.

Thus, music appreciation per se does not play a part here: the tune may, in fact, be brilliant, or it may be completely worthless: you're bound to like hearing it because of all those memories.

Now, what is this phenomenon called? It's "tonal ..." something ... something ... I can't quite put my finger on it.


texts: What is the correct way to say "either with John or myself"?

texts:
Which of the following is correct? (This is to confirm the number of people for an event I am hosting with someone else.)

A. Until then, if you all could confirm your attendance [either] with John or myself [,] it'd be highly appreciated.
B. Until then, if you all could confirm your attendance with [either] John or me [,] it'd be highly appreciated.
C. Until then, if you all could confirm your attendance with [either] John or I [,] it'd be highly appreciated.

Do I need either, and a comma as well?


texts: Let's say you're writing something along the lines of don't do as I do and get a haircut. Would this mean you got a haircut and you don't want readers to do the same, or you didn't get a haircut and you want readers to get a haircut?


texts: "Under sail" - literally only sail boats or also valid for boats with engines

texts:
I wonder if the expression "under sail" can or should only be used in reference to boats that sail with the wind (i.e. have a sail) or if it could be used for boats and ships as well that move with engine power.

How would a layman imagine a boat or ship if I'd tell him "We are under sail, heading towards ..."?
How would a seaman understand it? Is it commonly used to indicate that the ship is moving or that it has a physical sail up?


texts:
I'm not a native English speaker so I need your help on this one. When talking about a company, which one is correct:

1)Why to choose Google
2)Why choose Google?

For a non native speaker...why to choose sounds so strange but I've seen it written on a technology website.

Thanks in advance!


texts: "Interaction technologies" vs. "interactive technologies"

texts: What is your feeling about the differences between the two?


texts: Is there a more appropriate way to say "moved A below B"?

texts:
Given a flat surface and two objects A and B

  After the guy moved A below B.

Is there a better way to say it?

Thanks in advance!


texts: The Difference Between "I just love you" and "I love you"

texts: What is the difference between "I 'just' love you" and "I love you"?


texts:
Is it correct in terms of English grammar to say “ones” in this sentence:

“Traffic problems and pollution are ones of the main threats to the 21st century.”?


texts: "Congratulate for" vs. "congratulate on"

texts:
Which is correct?

  I congratulated him for coming first in the race.

  I congratulated him on coming first in the race.


texts: Word for data/information from medical scanner

texts:
I need a word for "information from a scanning as it appears in the image used for diagnostics".
My context is medical (physics).
SPECT and CT are two scanning techniques with different information that is combined into one image:

"The SPECT information is classified into five classes and matched to the CT image"
"In the resulting image the SPECT information is delineated more sharply

So, do you know a better word than "information" or "data" in this context?
EDIT: The SPECT information resembles the temperature maps overlayed on a photo in thermal scans (I don't know if this helps)

Edit 2: I realised that my question maybe needs to be a bit more precise; the projection or image is the data in the image matrix. The shape, or contour (or whatever we end up calling it) is the significant part of the image. We sometimes call these hot spots, if the measurements have  high values compared to the background, or cold spots if the background is high, and there are areas with low values.
Summary
Here I list the suggestions from answers and comments with informal and formal definitions

Scan: the process of obtaining an image, also used as a synonym for the image
Projections: The SPECT raw data (one projection for each scan angle)
Image: The reconstructed data as a matrix of pixel values
Measurement: a method of determining quantity, capacity, or dimension.
Result: the output of a test or the interpretation of data (by e.g. a physician)
Contour:  the edge or line that defines or bounds a shape or object.
Topography: The description of the regions of the body or of a body part, especially the regions of a definite and limited area of the surface.


texts: Word that means "to worsen esp. suddenly"

texts:
I'm trying to look for a word(verb) that means to worsen especially suddenly to describe an injury/swelling.

I have chronic swelling in my lips and whenever I become too active, the swelling worsens and becomes painful and I'm trying to look for a verb to describe that without being too wordy. It's like similar to the word attack? but in verb form.


texts:
Is there a word to use in business setting that is not as intense as "focus"?

I am trying to communicate in a header/subject line that a meeting will include discussing a specific topic, but I also want to communicate, in the same header/subject line, that the meeting might not focus exclusively on the specific topic because we may or may not discuss at least one other topic.

For example, I am trying to say "Meeting [INSERT WORD THAT IS NOT AS INTENSE AS "FOCUS"] on [INSERT SPECIFIC TOPIC]".

Thanks in advance for your help!


texts:
In the following sentences, is it necessary to use which?

SRH, a recombination model, is used for direct bandgap materials.

SRH, which is a recombination model, is used for direct bandgap semiconductors.

If both are correct, please explain the use of which in those cases.


texts: Does "I like my new car" express a permanent or temporary state?

texts:
We all know that

Simple Present is normally used for "more permanent state" & Present Continuous for "more temporary state" (Source)

  She lives with her parents.

  We use the present simple to talk about permanent facts and general
  truths. In this example we don’t expect the situation to change.

  She’s living with her parents.

  We use the present continuous to talk about something temporary. In
  this example we do expect the situation to change.

Now, some verbs such as "like, love, need, want..." are not used in "continuous form" (Source)

But this page says some natives say

  I’m liking my new car.

  I’m missing you.

  This sentence expresses the idea that it’s something happening around
  now and it’s not a permanent state. The excitement might soon wear off
  and I might stop enjoying the experience soon.

  Similarly, when we say ‘I’m missing you.’, it shows how intense this
  emotion is right now.

It is considered "Informal" or  "Wrong"

So, if I said it grammatically correctly "I like my new car", would people think that that sentence expressed a permanent or temporary state?

Should we add "now" to make it more temporary as in

"I am in New York now" is more temporary

"I am in New York" is more permanent

So, "I like my new car now", but it sounds a bit awkward


texts: Does the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" exist?

texts:
I have heard about the word countless times. However, when I looked up the dictionary, I could not find it. So I would like to ask if the word even exists at all. If so, what does the word actually mean and why was it invented?

This word really piqued my curiosity I could not resist asking.


texts: Increasing clarity by breaking verbal stumbling blocks

texts:
I am marking students' essays and frequently coming across stumbling blocks of words. Although grammatically speaking these blocks are mostly correct, I find that clarity is being impaired (e.g too many adjectives, repetition, word order, confusing meaning, broken flow, too much time spent to understand the message). However, I am not sure how to restructure these stumbling block without loss of meaning so they can understand the point I am trying to make. Can you advise please?

I used to have a Giant Live hybrid style brand-new bicicle that was recently stolen from my sister's partner's stepmother.
It is an old light blue steel frame road bike with a greyish aluminium handlebar and a cushioned saddle seat.
Many cats have disappeared at the same exact time period from the same exact place in the town animal rescue shelter.
They research high mortality diseases effects on economically Asian developing nations OR They research the effects on economically developing nations in Asia of high mortality diseases.


texts:
According to Cambridge Dictionary these three words are synonyms (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cuddle).

How would you order these three words in terms of which is more loving?

Also which one of these do you think is more literary and less used (up)?

Keep in mind that I am talking about these words as nouns. It is not necessary that whatever applies for the respective verbs ("to hug", "to embrace", "to cuddle") applies also for the nouns.

For example, you can think of these words in the following poetic line (which is addressed to a lover):

"...I wish time would you bring you eventually in my hug/embrace/cuddle...".


texts: Looking for a word that describes the status of a condition, getting worse or better, or stays the same? Eg "What is the ..... of this condition?"


texts:
I understand we should use has/have been for something which started in past and still continuing in present. But is it right to use for something which started in past but has just completed or completed a few hours ago?
For example - I want to tell someone in what I did the whole day. Should I say - I have been in meetings all day or I was in meetings all day? May be I should use "was"? Because day is already over? Please suggest. Thanks.


texts: What word can be used to describe mathematically increasing dimension?

texts:
I'm looking for a concise way to describe expanding the dimension of an object, i.e. taking a square and turning it into a cube.

  In order to turn a square into a cube, you _____ it into three dimensions.


texts:
Example:

  Speaker A: “I’m not here to catch you.”

  Speaker B: “Then to do
  what?”

I thought it was common phrase. But Google tells me the opposite.

If it's not common, what's a better alternative?


texts:
All dictionaries I have checked list the term wildlife as an uncountable noun. But there are plenty of examples that treat wildlife as a plural. Indeed, Google returns around one million search results for the phrase "wildlife that is," much fewer than the over 2.7 million for "wildlife that are."
I've found it difficult to wrap my head around this word: Is this an uncountable noun as the dictionaries say or can this be sometimes treated as a collective noun that can represent a plural?
Why do the mainstream dictionaries all proclaim wildlife as an uncountable noun while people frequently treat it as a plural?


texts:
When you drizzle honey, it becomes a thin stream that goes all "jiggly" as it hits your sandwich. I believe this is due to the way that the long molecules align as the liquid falls and becomes thinner.

I suspect there is a word for that property. It's not viscosity - that is what makes a liquid resist shear. This is a "temporary alignment that results in transient elastic behavior".

I would have thought there's a word for that, but my Google Fu is failing me. Any scientists here that are also awesome with words?


texts:
The word expanse in the Merriam Webster dictionary has this IPA transcription.

  ik-ˈspan(t)s

Does the () mean that the t is optional, or that it's very lightly pronounced? It would seem more logical that the parentheses indicate that it's optional, yet when I find the word in online recordings with a t, there is only vague traces of it.


texts: Can we omit the preposition "to" in the phrase "be responded to by"? And why?

texts:
In an article, I have read a sentence as follows:

  In the Golgi stress response, insufficient organelle capacity is responded to by augmentation of glycosylation enzyme expression and vesicular transport components.

I think that the sentence is similar to

  Insufficient organelle capacity is responded to the Golgi stress by augmentation of glycosylation enzyme expression and vesicular transport components.

I wonder whether I perceive the meaning correctly.
In addition, can we omit the preposition to in the original sentence, although I understand that we can not omit the preposition to in my adapted version of the sentence.  As an graduate from China, I also hope you can tell me more about the reason. Thanks!


texts: Action performed sitting on a chair that rotates

texts:
The question just popped out on seeing my colleague who sits next to me. He always keeps rotating sitting on the chair. Well, not a complete rotation. Since it is not a full rotation, all I can think of is to call it oscillating, since he rotates (oscillates) to his right and left having his feet on the floor, but I am not sure if that person can understand when I say, "Hey, can you not oscillate for some time?". This is because I don't know if oscillation can be used for used for a movement that happens in a circular fashion.

Is there an exact term/phrase for this action? I don't think shaking would be a good fit either.


texts:
Is the sentence below in second conditional and indicate future?
▪ "If someone had to die, I thought it should be me," he later told his parents.


texts: Is "..., so (adjective) is (noun)." a valid construction?

texts:
Let's assume that The use of cars is so prevalent that we cannot imagine life without them is a good sentence.

My question is whether We cannot image life without cars, so prevalent is their use  is a correct sentence and equivalent to the first one.

I feel like it is, but I cannot name the grammatical usage involved.


texts: I read in a piece of news . " the amount of time that young people spend inactive." Inactive is an adjective . I consider it should be inactively . Is it right?


texts: Commas with "ranged from a low of X .... to a high of X ... "

texts:
Does there need to be commas after "day" in both instances? Would this be considered a contract situation for which I would need commas to separate, or is it a string of prepositional phrases that do not require commas?

... the period under review ranged from a low of $10 per day, to a high of $20 per day, with an average of $15 per day.


texts: What are the capitalization rules regarding historical periods of time?

texts:
Why are phrases like "the High Middle Ages" capitalized while e. g. "the sixth century" is not?

Is there a general rule?


texts: Agreement between 'a lot of' + 2 uncountable nouns and the predicate

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  "A lot of paper and cardboard is recycled"
  "A lot of paper and cardboard are recycled"?

It feels like the 1st sentence is correct, because we see the two materials as a whole, but I' m not sure.


texts:
What does the word perilous mean in

  You could taste it; a nervous tension that came perilous close to fear?

It looks as if there should be perilously instead, meaning too (close).

Are this and similar contractions of the words in The Game of Thrones by G. Martin (from whence the quote comes) probably due to archaic or rather simplified style?


texts: Why does to "take a powder" mean to run away or to leave?

texts: From Flappers to Rappers: American youth slang by Dr. Thomas Dalzell cites "take a powder" as a 1930s expression meaning to run away or to leave. Does anyone have any ideas why taking a powder would mean running away or leaving?


texts: What's the equivalent phrase in the UK for "I plead the fifth"?

texts:
In the United States, a person under examination on the witness stand may "plead the fifth" to avoid self-incrimination. In other words, a person asserts his or her Fifth Amendment right.

Citizens of many English-speaking countries have the right to remain silent and laws to protect against self-incrimination (testifying against yourself). In the UK, how do witnesses or defendants respond in court? Do they literally remain silent, invoke a particular law, or say "no comment"?

Include the legal traditions of other English-speaking countries if relevant. However, with nearly one hundred such nations, I don't wish to promote giving an answer for each one.

To be clear: I am looking for the words a defendant might say on the witness stand. If there's no standard response, then that's an acceptable answer. If defendants would never say something like it because they wouldn't be on the stand unless they had waived their right to silence, then that's an acceptable answer.


texts: Should there be a comma in 'a 30-day, money-back guarantee'?

texts:
Is a comma needed in the following phrases?

  30-day, money-back guarantee
  90-day, no-risk trial

If so, why? If not, why not?

I've seen them written both ways — with and without the comma — but certainly one way has to be more correct than the other.


texts: What are British English alternatives for “jack sh*t”

texts: If you want to say e.g. "He does jack sh*t (nothing) at work", what British English idioms would you use (apart from just 'nothing')?


texts: Was "Congress" used to refer to an entity before the Constitution?

texts:
According to Merriam-Webster, a definition of Congress is
"1a: the act or action of coming together and meeting". The first known use of the word is "1528, in the meaning defined at sense 1a" and the etymology of the word is as follows:

  Latin congressus, from congredi to come together, from com- + gradi to go

The first use of the word "Congress" referred to "The act or action of coming together or meeting" while the current use of the word seems to be preferential towards the idea that "Congress" is an "entity" rather than an "action" between two parties such as "The House Of Representatives" and the "Senate" which would in effect form the "Congress".

My question is, at the time of its use within the Constitution of The United States Of America would the word "Congress" be correctly defined if it alluded to anything other than a "meeting" or "the action of meeting"?

It is understood that there are multiple definitions for the term "congress", for the purpose of this post I am looking for the definition that was originally intended when written within the Constitution and if possible some supporting evidence such as context clues, other uses of the word during that time period, sentence structuring, or other evidence. One such example of a definition is the act of meeting where as later definitions seem to point to the word "congress" referring to an entity rather than an action.


texts: Can an inanimate object “get something wrongˮ?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from an article about spelling mistakes:

  Can you spot the mistakes? Building signs which get standard English phrases wrong; posters and other material featuring misspellings, mangled grammar, eccentric constellations of English words and outright mistakes ...

The highlighted part of the phrase does not sit right with me. Is this wording (a) grammatically allowed and (b) does it sound natural to a native English speaker?


texts: Why “man” not “men” in “Many a brave man”?

texts:
I’m reading Black Beauty and there is a sentence there which starts like this:

  Many a brave man went down, many a horse fell,

Why man here? Why not men?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Are there rules about using “that” to join two clauses?

In mathematical parlance it is customary to write, for example, "One wishes to prove that the following is true." Is the word "that" in the preceding sentence superfluous or necessary and correct?


texts: What do we call those words that stand in for other verbs?

texts: The reason why I ask is because I see that we have the linguistic means to 'point to' or 'refer' to the actions that had taken place. For example, you could say, 'what happened', and I imagine a response necessarily involves a verb. You could also say things like,  'what will you do'? and 'how did you do that'. I think that words like 'happened', 'do', and phrases like' do that' act as references for verbs in the same way that pronouns stand in for nouns. Is this formally recognised, and if so, what do we call such references?


texts: is the monopoly reduced/ lowered /shared?

texts:
If method 1 had a monopoly in imaging domain.
With the arrival of method two, its monopoly is lowered? reduced?
Please suggest a suitable word here.
Thank you


texts:
I'm trying to say:
He had also made her promise that when that day comes (->????), she leave and not look back.

I'm stuck about the right tense to use for the verb to come, since it's the "future in the past".

Thank you in advance for your help.


texts: What other expressions and sayings do you have as an alternative to ‘Rip Van Winkle meets Facebook.’?

texts:
In today’s (Feb.10) article titled Out of Touch, Out of Time written by Thomas L. Friedman, I found a really cool phrase, this is Rip Van Winkle meets Facebook, which I understand describes Hosni Mubarak's preposterous decision. In Japanese, when we encounter such an anachronism, we say it’s like meeting an old ghost on the road, ghost has come back, or return to Genji/Heike-era.

Note:Genji and Heike were two martial clans rivaling for the hegemony of Japan through 11–12 century.

Because Friedman uses a recent word, Facebook, this witty remark seems to be his own coinage to me. I think you have many other well-worn English epigrams corresponding to Rip Van Winkle meets Facebook. Can you give me some of old versions?

  Watching President Hosni Mubarak addressing his nation Thursday night, explaining why he would not be drummed out of office by foreigners, I felt embarrassed for him and worried for Egypt. This man is staggeringly out of touch with what is happening inside his country. This is Rip Van Winkle meets Facebook.


texts: What word means "shows emotion while acting" in a good way?

texts: I wanted to use "emote" to praise an actor. But when I looked it up, emote has one positive definition while all others are negative. Synonyms include "overacted" "ham it up" "exaggerate" "overact" etc. What word can I use that means "this actor conveys emotion while acting" or "this actor can convey strong emotions while acting" in a good way? For example, "This actor _____ while acting".


texts: Negation of a chain of verbs conjoined with "and"

texts:
Let's consider the following sentence:

  Ducks are things that walk like ducks and quack like ducks.

Now, I wanna negate it to describe something that is not a duck. The most verbose way to do it might probably be something like:

  Dogs are things that do not walk like ducks and do not quack like ducks.

While this seems to be grammatically correct to me, the repetition of does not makes this sentence rather crude. I would like something a bit more concise. My attempt to achieve this could result in something like this:

  Dogs are things that do not walk and quack like ducks.

Now I'm not so sure what my phrase actually means. That the dogs do not walk at all but do quack like ducks? That the dogs do not walk like ducks but do quack like ducks? Or, maybe, it actually means what I wanted it to mean: that neither dogs walk like ducks nor they quack like them.

Okay. Maybe I should view this sentence from the position of the formal mathematical logic. What we have here is an A & B construct (walking & quacking), and I'm trying to apply negation to it: !(A & B). Mathematical logic suggests that !(A & B) is equal to !A | !B, that is, not A or not B. So maybe I should switch to a different conjunction? Let's try that:

  Dogs are things that do not walk or quack like ducks.

Did that help? Or maybe it made everything even worse? I'm totally confused. Please help me find a balance between being not overly verbose and keeping what I try to say clear.

Thanks!


texts: Are both "tradable" and "tradeable" correct?

texts:
I was wondering whether "tradeable" is the British English version of the American word "tradable"?

Given that the word "trade" ends with an "e", I compare it to the word "love" which I see more often as "lovable".


texts:
Currently where I live there are almost ZERO English native speakers.

I love that though. Not because I seek the attention of being the only native speaker around but because it gives me the perfect opportunity to learn the other language with a  native perspective.

I hear more and more people trying to offer the phrase, I am angry on you or other flavours of this such as I am surprised on you etc.

My question is, could this be considered good English as opposed to grammar (which normally go hand in hand)? I understand the meaning behind it of course and I like the mental imagery of how someone can feel the possibility to place a weight on top of you based on their disappointment and so on.

Should I correct them or keep enjoying their broken English for my own personal entertainment ?


texts: Single word for 'I think it is right but not exactly sure about it'

texts:
Could somebody suggest a single word for 'I think it is right but not exactly sure about it'.

I can say 'I am almost sure' but wondering if a word exists with same meaning.


texts: The right word or phrase of an act of telling false bad stories about someone deliberately?

texts: My subordinate at the workplace has a problem of not accepting reprimand when she has done wrong.  She always becomes shaking with anger threatening to leave her job and then spreads the false stories about how she is being handled at the workplace by her supervisor, me.  So I would like to have the relevant word of her act of spreading false accusations about me in my report to our employer for protection.


texts: What would you call a collection of experiences?

texts:
Imagine you had a box that held individual experiences.

These experiences do not necessarily have to be your own.
Others can put their own experiences in the box.
The experiences are all related by physical location.
You can only view the experiences when you are physically near the
box.
The experiences are viewed as list from newest to oldest
The experiences are stored as images or videos

I've thought about TimeLine but it's been beaten to death. Maybe LifeCycle? Something catchy and not cliche.

EDIT:
Image a collection of 10sec videos or images that can only be taken at a specific location. You can only view those images/videos when you are at that specific location.


texts: searching for word defining something deep, elemental, symbolic, essential

texts: ...they do talk but they talk slowly and quietly and not very often and say, not only what is SIGNIFICANT (???), but what is PRIME (???).


texts: The ship "set sail" or the ship "sets sail"?

texts:
In this sentence:

  The ship (set/sets) sail for the city of New York on the fifth of April.

Should we use "set" or "sets"?

Note that it is not known if the "fifth of April" is in the past or the future.


texts: ''When'' condition? When we've finished, we'll have

texts:
I had a question in an exam and I don't understand why I was wrong.

1) When we finish the painting we'll have a cup of tea.
I PUT THIS ANSWER AND WAS WRONG

2) When we've finished the painting, we'll have a cup of tea.
THIS WAS A GOOD ANSWER, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHY

Is this a when clause? Is it present perfect? What is the struture of this so I can search more for this type.

I have seen this sentence before but don't know why it is correct, can someone explain please?

Thanks


texts: Way of saying on occasion of these occasions, which themselves occur on occasions?

texts:
On occasion, Martha would cry. On occasion of these occasions, she would laugh afterwards...

Looking for something more neat / elegant..


texts: Is a comma required before an interjected “well”?

texts:
A picture shared on Instagram (original source unknown) contains the following grammar joke:

  “Well done, well-done, or well, done?”

And, this being a grammar joke, I’d assume it uses correct English. But I can’t help thinking that there should be a comma before the last “well”:

  “Well done, well-done, or, well, done?”

Is the comma optional here? Is it allowed? Or am I entirely misunderstanding the function of the “well” here and it’s not an interjection?

(Incidentally, my query implicitly assumes that the comma before “or” is an Oxford comma and doesn’t form part of the interjection. Is this correct?)


texts: Verb describing "opening" a new research field

texts:
I'm seaking a single verb which describes the incetpion/invention/introduction of a new research field. Example usage:

Psychology and Complex-systems are two research fields that were established as indepednent research domains during the 20th century.  However, apart from anacdotal examples, the two domains were not substantially mixed.
The current work should signify the opening of a new research field, which we term "Complex-Psychology", by a particular amalgamation of the two disciplines.

"We wish to introduce the new field" might be a good choice, but I'm looking to stress the active role of the writers in the creation of somthing that did not exist before and is now created/invented.


texts:
Today, I saw a news headline on BBC News. It says:

  Nuclear power is 'indispensible' says
  safety agency.

As far as I know, the correct word should be "indispensable". Is it a typo (an example that shows even BBC can make mistakes in headlines) or is this an alternative version of that adjective?


texts: Word used for sighing before doing something?

texts: Say, John is about lift something heavy. He blows some air and proceeds to pick it up. Would there be a word for that specific action? I've tried 'sighed', but it didn't really fit.


texts: If anonymous and anonymously are words, and so is onymous - why isn't onymously?

texts:
I need to write the following but apparently "onymously" isn't a word?...

The user can post anonymously or onymously

How can anonymously be ok to use - but not onymously? Can anyone suggest a suitable alternative for my sentence?


texts:
When saying a sentence like:

  Nikola Tesla __ famous because he was a genius.

Should the blank be replaced by is or was?

Or is it dependent on when the person is/was famous? If so, what exactly are the rules?

I searched on Google and English.SE but didn't find an answer, even after using quotes to counter the amount of stop words in the question...


texts: What was Princeton 6 in Jamaican English?

texts:
I got an Old Raggae album and started listening to "Bam Bam" by Sister Nancy (youtube)

After listening several times, I could start making out the English words (lyrics):

  A me seh one thing Nancy cyaan understan
  one thing Nancy cyaan understan
  wha' mek dem a talk 'bout me ambishan
  seh, wha' mek dem a talk 'bout me

Sure enough

  One thing Nancy can't understand (2×)
  What makes them talk about my ambition? (2×)

So far so good, but I am stuck on the following sentence:

  Me born an me grow in a Princeton 6

I tried looking up the Parishes of Jamaica, there is no town called Princeton.  So I am not sure what it could mean here.


texts: What is the stick, dug with young plants for support, called?

texts: I am looking for the word/name that describes a stick dug along with young plants to support/direct the plant growth.


texts: What factors over time have affected the most common word used to mean "woman who flies a plane"?

texts:
I was looking at this thread:
Has the suffix "-trix" acquired a pejorative meaning in recent years?
And I became curious about the popularity of the words aviatrix, aviatrice, aviatress and then later airwoman/airwomen.
I think the Google Ngram Viewer shows some interesting movements:
Google Ngram Viewer
I'm imagining that the bump for airwomen (but not airwoman) was caused by something like the FAA or the Air Force putting out a series of documents that targeted a group and not an individual. Can anyone offer any insight into other things that might have affected the change in preferred verbage for "woman who flies a plane" over time?
Small amounts of research I did found this document from 1991 that used the plural "aviatrices" as well as "AIRWOMEN". However, it also referred to "women pilots" over 40 times. Obviously, this is a small sample size, but it seems to indicate to me that even in 1991 a time when aviatrix was the most common single word, "women pilots" was still far and away the most common phrase ("Aviatrix" never appears in this article). That said, considering the words are synonyms, I feel like the Ngram Viewer should present a more related graph (Either similar bumps due to a rises in popularity of the concept, or troughs for most of the words when one synonym rises at the other's expense)


texts: Can the sentence that comes after "comma + as" equal in meaning to the word before the comma?

texts:
"This time of social change also saw an artistic revolution, as the impressionist movement arose to challenge the conventions of art"

I always learned that "as" was a word that meant that two things were happening at the same time. In this case, the author is saying that the "impressionist movement arose to challenge" = artistic revolution. I have never heard of "as" being used this way. Can anyone very that this is correct? It appears to me that a semicolon should replace "comma + as".


texts: Sentence-final "at which time" replacing "at this time" – Latino variety, or idiolect?

texts:
I just landed at LAX and the flight attendant (who had a slight Latino accent, but was a native or near-native English speaker) gave the last announcement:

  "As we prepare to land please have cups and other items ready to throw away, as we're going to make one last pass through the cabin at which time." Full stop.

There were several such utterances during the flight which ended with "at which time," each of which was clearly meant to signify "at this time." Is this a common usage in a variety of English I'm unfamiliar with, or is it more likely to be this one speaker's quirk?


texts: What is the word for the order of succession in which son assumes the throne after father?

texts: It can be any son-younger son after elder son after father. Also, what can be the term for only a single family in power? Please answer.


texts: A term to describe "thinking something bad is good"

texts: Let's say someone has an idea that he/she thinks is really good, but in reality it is actually not a very good idea. How can I describe this kind of mentality?


texts: Etymology of "magma" in abstract algebra

texts: Magma is one of those beautiful words of Greek origin (μάγμα) that arouses the child and the wild in me, making me think of volcanoes. I just found out, though, that it is also used in mathematics to mean a type of algebraic structure (a set paired with a binary operation on it)! I am very curious how this name was picked for this particular algebraic structure (which is also called by groupoid). Wikipedia attributes the coining of this term to Nicolas Bourbaki, but does not mention how they arrived at such a name. I have not been able to find the specific etymology of this sense anywhere else. What is its origin?


texts: Expressions like "They may be a-holes, but they are our a-holes"

texts:
I remember coming across a line "They may be a-holes, but they are our a-holes." It's used to describe something you don't like, but also don't want others to take away. One example is big global corporations. Americans might hate them, but Americans also don't want to see them move out.
I googled this phrase and saw some sporadic usages. But it doesn't seem very popular. Is there a more popular version that expresses the same sentiment? I don't mind some vulgarity -- I think it actually makes this phrase rather powerful!


texts: A word for all animals that walk on all of their limbs

texts: Is there a single word for animals that stand and walk on all of their limbs, such as cats, ants, and millipedes?


texts: Word for a car accessory that is standard trim, or a low-cost option

texts:
I'm looking for a word or two that covers in a vehicle all-round cameras, built-in sonar and radar, etc that may be in the base price or in a low-cost package, and all mount unobtrusively into pre-allocated mountings, but excludes exotic items like LIDAR that sits on the roof of the car and would only be a third-party or specialised purchase. "Off-the-shelf" is close, I think, but is there something better?
The sample heading I am trying to fix currently reads:

Using only in-vehicle conventional sensing devices

"in-vehicle conventional" are the words I want to replace. This is for a formal poster.


texts: What does advance up to $500 mean in this context?

texts:
Text:

  For this project, you will buy between $5 - $1,000 USD (no minimum) worth of goods (which you will actually get to keep!) and submit your receipts for reimbursement.
  This means that you will need to advance up to $500 on a personal credit or debit card while you participate in this project. Are you able to do this?*

I don't want to get ripped off that's why I am asking if this means that here I am actually expected to buy at products at least for $500?


texts: Singular or plural noun when referring to two groups

texts:
I have problems deciding whether I should use singular or plural nouns. For example, which of the following sentences is correct?:

(...) to draw a size comparison between the nose of old and young people (...)
(...) to draw a size comparison between the noses of old and young people (...)

The difficulty arises from the fact that each person only has one nose. When many people are involved, there are noses, one for each individual. If I use nose, I am neglecting the fact that there is a group of noses (those of old and young people), but if I use noses, one could think that a single person may have more than one nose.
Thanks.


texts: Commas accompanying a "which ..." clause inside parentheses

texts:
Here is a sample sentence:

  The output of Tim's method (and the methods of Mark and Brad, which leverage Tim's method) is much greater than that of Tom's method.

Is this correct?  Do I need a second comma?  If so, where would I put it?  If I removed the parentheses, it seems that there should be a comma after "Tim's method" to separate the clause "which leverage Tim's method" from the rest of the sentence.

Someone had suggested to me that I should remove the comma before "which" and replace "which" with "that", but I don't feel that the result would have the same meaning as the sentence I have above.

Thanks!

(Note: I did take a look at everything I could find by searching "commas inside parentheses", including this post.  I don't feel like this post covers the same problem that I have here and, if it does, it is not obvious to me.)


texts:
I recently came across a description of a GitHub project that had a sentence similar to the following at the end:

  Project collaborated by James Smith and Olivia Jones.

Does "collaborated by" make sense in the above sentence?
Does "collaborated on by" make more sense?
What word can be added or replaced to improve this sentence, while still sounding sophisticated?


texts: The origin of "knickers in a knot" and "knickers in a twist"

texts:
Where do the idioms "knickers in a knot" and "knickers in a twist" originate from? I cannot seem to get to the bottom of the origin!

The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms (published in 1998) says that "get your knickers in a knot" is "Australian, informal," and that "get your knickers in a twist" is "British & Australian, informal"—but it doesn't say when either expression came into use.


texts:
I am reading "The Richest Man in Babylon" but could not get the meaning of the following sentences:

  Provide also that thy family may not want should the Gods call thee to their realms. For such protection it is always possible to make provision with small payment at regular intervals. Therefore the provident man delays not in expectation of a large sum becoming available for such a wise purpose.

Anyone please rephrase them so I can understand them easily. Thank you


texts: Capitalizing "the" when mid-sentence in a company name?

texts:
Consider a company called:

  The Association of Examples Ltd.

When you refer to this company, should you have to capitalize "the" when it's mid-sentence and would have been used even if it wasn't in the name?

It looks odd to me:

  In other news, The Association of Examples announced that...

  Sarah is the founder of The Association of Examples and has...

But I imagine it's the correct way.

For the grammar-conscious, why or why not?

To give you context, I am asking also when branding ones own company like that. The Economist did it (as did Fitzgerald for The Great Gatsby) and Wikipedia authors adhere, but I can imagine it can cause confusion.


texts: What is proper word for "His words vibrated in my ears"

texts:
What is the proper way of saying

His words vibrated in my ears

The context is a man calls some one for the last time.He is about to die.What ever the other person says he cannot hear clearly but kind of echoes in his ears


texts: What term can be given to the line "Go to development hell"?

texts: In the sentence, "Battleship sank at the box office, earning just a third of its $200-million-plus budget, and the ripple effect was swift: Monopoly went directly past Go to development hell, and Universal shed its much-hyped Hasbro partnership, paying millions in penalties to not make movies" is there a name/term or phrase which can be given to the "Go to development hell" phrase?


texts: Are there any differences between “update” and “edit”?

texts:
Which one of those words I should use when something is changed.

  I update the record

OR

  I edit the record


texts: Is it semantically correct to use the word 'ahead' when referring to moving in time?

texts:
EDIT: As in the questions title, is it semantically correct to use sentences such as "the concert was moved ahead in time as the stage was no longer available". To me, this makes sense, but is ambiguous in meaning - was the concert moved backwards or forwards?

Assuming this does make semantic sense: is there a way to remove the ambiguity and imply that the concert was delayed whilst maintaining the usage of the word ahead?

I've re-worded this entire question (thanks to deadrats comment).

Original question:
Is it grammatically correct to use the sentence "I travelled ahead in time"? If so, what would the meaning/interpretation be?

Based on the assumption that this is a valid sentence, is it then also valid to say "the concert was moved ahead in time"? Again, what would the interpretation of this sentence be, or is it ambiguous?


texts:
This is an official practice question for the SAT Reasoning Test:

  Along the curve of islands known as the Florida Keys lies a reef of living coral, the only one of a kind in the continental United States. No error.

Instructions for this section:

  The following sentences test your ability to recognize grammar and usage errors. Each sentence contains either a single error or no error at all. No sentence contains more than one error. The error, if there is one, is underlined and lettered [I just made the relevant section bold]. If the sentence contains an error, select the one underlined part that must be changed to make the sentence correct. If the sentence is correct, select choice E. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

Think hard . . . answer:

   D (a kind).

Obviously, in order to be idiomatic, the only one of a kind is incorrect. Our choices are:

the only one of its kind (presumably the implied correction)
one of a kind

Now, normally when ETS wants you to honor a different part of a sentence, it's not going to  be up for grabs (it won't be highlighted as an answer choice). If possibility 1 in this disjunction were the absolute right answer, we'd have expected the to be outside of answer choice "C" (the only one).

My highly educated teacher said that if it were his test, he'd go change the answer, but it's College Board's, and I'd just have to *deal with it.

Questions

With all the English you know, how could you possibly justify choice 1 over choice 2?

You see, I have no choice as a high school student to submit to the test's standards. My best explanation is that, even though the two choices are nearly semantically equivalent, the first might have been seen as closer to the original intention (though technically whatever original intention was equivocal).

Are both technically correct?

Maybe I'll bring it up to College Board.


texts: What does ‘the Kardashians’ mean in the context of the Treasury Department’s sending a prepaid card to many Americans?

texts:
I saw the following sentence in today’s Washington Post.
I understand that ‘the Kardashian’ is picked up from a popular American reality TV series, ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians'.
But I don't understand what ‘the Kardashians’ signify in this particular context of the government's attempt at stimulating the economy (or helping needies). Please teach me.

“Uncle Sam follows 'the Kardashians' into prepaid card market:
Uncle Sam wants you to have a prepaid card, and he's not the only one. Â¶ The Treasury Department is sending letters to 600,000 people this week encouraging them to sign up to receive their tax return on a new government-issued prepaid card as part of a pilot program to help those with limited acc...”


texts:
Why can I say,'Why do you like her so much?' but not, 'Why do you like her very much?'

My answer is:
 'Why' is evaluative and forces you to make (or consider) a comparison. Very cannot be used in comparative constructs.

A friend of mine raised the point:
 That 'very' seems to work in the negative form. For example: "Why don't you like her very much?"


texts: Singular entity, plural name/nickname -- verb form?

texts:
In writing about the National Archives, I got to wondering about subject-verb agreement.  The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA, often called simply The National Archives) is one entity, but when using the nickname, it would appear at first glance to be plural.

So, even though Archives is plural, because it is a single entity, does it still take a singular verb?

Note: I see on the NARA website, in the menu at the bottom, there is a link labelled What is the National Archives? so it would appear that they believe the nickname is singular.

Does it matter that the full name of the agency is the National Archives and Records Administration?  When using the full name, I think it is clear that the verb should be singular (to match with the singular administration):

  The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper.

I'm just not 100% certain about the situation when using the shortened nickname:

  The National Archives is the nation's record keeper.

I found a question singular entity as a collection of subjects that is similar, but there does not seem to have a definitive answer and does not have the same twist of the full name being obviously singular.


texts: What is a verb that means 'to make a small amount of money last for several days'?

texts:
It happens to me every month particularly the last week. I have a little amount of money. I have to manage the expenses till I get my salary. So I make such a small amount of money last for several days.

It happens not only in the matter of money but grocery items also. Is there any word to imply the activity "making something little last for several days"?

I need single word (a verb) for the verbal phrase 'make a small amount of money last for several days'.


texts: Correct preposition for geographical location

texts:
I'm working in the United Arab Emirates. I want to know how to make a sentence describing my (city) location with the correct preposition.

For example, should I write:

I'm in Dubai
I'm on Dubai
I'm at Dubai.

Which one is correct?


texts: Term for turning "Florida" into "Flo Rida"

texts: What would be the name for dissecting a word to create a phrase — the opposite of a portmanteau? Like the rapper Flo Rida made his name out of Florida. Is there a term for that?


texts:
I know fall for something means to be tricked (believe someone), but here in lyrics she's adding "like you". Does it mean that she lied to him too? I have doubts about my comprehending, so I need your help.

  Do I wanna be told the truth?
  When I fell for a lie like you


texts: Is a determiner considered an adjective or a separate part?

texts:
I came across some blogs which states that determiners are types of adjectives (according to traditional grammar), whereas wiki (which I do not entirely trust) indicates some key differences. after studying both determiners and adjectives, I found that they share some similarities, specifically:

Possessives
Demonstratives
Quantifiers

  Example: "My" crew members are lost.

To stretch my question more:

Is "My" an adjective or a determiner?
if the determiner hasn't a separate entity from the adjective, what is the proper/common distinction for it?


texts: Word request: Well-known and generally accepted

texts:
I'm trying to find a word that is used to describe something that is generally accepted and well known, but is not necessarily written down or properly defined.  The word is one I have used in the past but for some reason my neurons are not firing properly and I can not remember the word.

Synonyms include: pragmatic, standard, well known, experiential, practical, empirical, observed, accepted.

You might use it in a sentence such as

  Most of the instructions are based on <blank> information by a variety of
  individuals.

or in a slightly different form

  Their <blank> experiences in the field define the way the business operates.

[edit]I've added my own answer because I have since found the word I was looking for: Anecdotal.  My synonyms above were slightly inaccurate, although the sentences, along with what I wanted to use the word for, still works as I intended it to based on the actual definition.[/edit]