texts:
Regarding the following sentence,

The study noted that pregnant women need to have healthy diets to reduce risk of developing gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that is most common among overweight and obese mothers.

Is "most common" correctly used? I wonder if it should be "more common" instead; but then I found other examples using the structure "that is most common", such as

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that is most common in men, but women can have hemophilia too. (CDC)
Osteoporosis is a condition of weak and brittle bones that is most common in older women; (The Neurological Institute of New York)
These breeds are identified with the color pattern that is most common in each breed. (New Mexico State University)

Can anyone help me understand this?


texts: "The reception of the radical theory shows that when [invention/dogmatism] fights orthodoxy to a draw..."

texts:
The reception given to Kimura's radical theory of molecular evolution
  shows that when ______ fights orthodoxy to a draw, then novelty has
  seized a good chunk of space from convention.

Options to choose from for the blank (for brevity, was able to rule out the others):

dogmatism
invention

The word radical means 'extreme'. So, can it be associated with dogmatism? Because a person who is radical does not listen to the conventions (or others who gainsay).

Or shall we simply associate invention, for we are talking about a 'new' theory in molecular evolution?

How should we interpret the latter part of the sentence to bring it to help?


texts: "before I oops do it again" or "before I oops did it again again", which one should I have used for it to be proper English?

texts:
Last night my cousin was playing Britney Spears' "Oops I did it again" song, and then in the middle of the song I felt the need to use the rest room and then I wanted to tell him "I better hit the toilet before I oops do it again" but when I was going about doing my business in the restroom, I was thinking "did I use the proper English?"
What should I have said there for it to be proper English? I mean usually it might have conveyed the meaning and it would have been understood and funny a bit, but I am looking for grammatically correct English here.
Thank you.
And sorry if this question and its context might seem a bit disrespectful or disturbing to some folks.


texts: Why do we ask "Who is she?" in the subjective form?

texts:
If "her" is objective and "she" is subjective, why do we say:

  'Who is she?'

instead of:

  'Who is her?'

apart from the latter sounding a bit strange?

For instance:

  'That car belongs to her.'

vs.

  'She has a nice car.'

Is the second sentence, 'Who is her?', actually grammatical and is there a situation where it is appropriate? (Or am I just plain wrong in thinking that "who" is the subject in both questions?)


texts:
I am not native English speaker. I get frustrated when it come to articles. Can you please tell me whether the sentence below is grammatically correct.

She spent all the night in rereading a letter from her sister


texts:
This sentence is the short form of "A makes B good, and C makes B good too."

Then, what is the short form of "A makes B good, and A makes C good too?"


texts: What does 'TL;DR' mean and how is it used?

texts: I do my best, at my advanced age, to come to grips with the apparent acceptability of such widely used words/expressions/abbreviations as lol/LOL,  IMHO, AFAIK, etc. However, TLDR/tl;dr defeats me. According to several dictionaries (e.g., http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tl%3Bdr) it means "too long; didn't read", but I have noticed people at EL&U and other StackExchange sites using it towards the end of their own answers to questions, often following it with a summary of what they have said before. I have assumed that it now means something like "If you found the above too long and complicated, here is, in a nutshell, what I meant to say"". Am I right?


texts: Difference between a Metaphor and a Simile

texts: I know a metaphor compares two similar things, like a ballerina glides like a swan and that a simile compares two unlike things, but I'm still not sure if the sentence, "The car guzzles fuel." would be a simile or a metaphor?  Could someone clarify it for me? Thanks.


texts: Did + multiple bare infinitives in a question

texts:
What is the proper way to combine past tense of do (did) with multiple bare infinitives in a question:

Did you go to vacation or stay at home?
Did you go to vacation or stayed at home?
Did you go to vacation or did you stay at home?

The last one is always correct, but I assume shorter form is more desirable, especially if more than two verbs are involved: Did you go to vacation, stay/stayed at home, go/went to work, or do/did something forth?

Also, if the second form is not correct, could it be transformed to Did you go to vacation or you stayed at home? I assume that this form has a little bit different meaning, because the emphasis is on vacation, and staying at home is just mentioned as one of the alternatives. Basically, this form can be answered with Yes or No, while the aforementioned three ones cannot (I offered two equally probable alternatives in the question). Does my reasoning on this make sense?

I am not a native English speaker and I caught myself using the second form occasionally (although it seems to clearly break the rule auxiliary verb + bare infinitive).


texts: Voicing of sibilants before liquids, after voiced vowels?

texts:
I just ran across an interesting question from a friend about
the voicing of sibilants in English. She was asking why English
speakers pronounce the word muslim as muZlim (with a voiced
sibilant) whereas those from the Middle East pronounce the word
with a true /s/ (unvoiced).
As a student of the Semitic languages, this was quite interesting
to me because I could explain the unvoiced sibilant as the
original phoneme in the Semitic form of the word. I could not,
however, compellingly explain the voicing in English.
So here is my question: Is the voicing of the /s/ in muslim
caused by the following /l/? Comparable words include muslin,
gosling, Aslan (not exactly and English word, but a fictional
character in English literature).  In every case, we voice
the sibilant as a /z/. (Incidentally, is this a feature unique
to American English? Do British English speakers keep these
sibilants unvoiced?)
As I got thinking about this, I then started to wonder if the /l/
wasn’t the factor causing voicing in the sibilant. It occurred
to me that every case has a voiced vowel preceding the /s/. Could
it be this voiced vowel causing the voicing of the sibilant? I’m
very curious about this and would appreciate any informed
responses you might have!


texts:
do you think the following sentences are correct? And if not why?

'It took me overnight to solve that problem!'

'Her work took overnight to be finished.'

Thanks!


texts: What do you call the the effect that causes people to miss the "the the" in this title?

texts: Ages ago someone told me that most readers will not spot a double-the in a sentence. Something about the way we process words apparently filters out the extraneous "the" but I don't know what that process is called. Does it have an explicit term? What is it?


texts:
Would you say this sentence is grammatically incorrect in terms of chronological order? I somehow have the feeling it is.

  "When I finished reading Dracula, Mum had vacuumed the living room."

I think the subordinate clause should have happened first, however, the main clause contradicts this notion due to the use of past perfect.

Am I right or wrong?


texts:
Why do some well known sentences or sayings like 'The customer is always right' fall into the category of phrase or catchphrase?

What is the distinction between a sentence that we call a phrase, as in my example and the ones we don't?


texts:
How to identify where to use gerund after 'to'? In some cases like "Look forward to" / "Looking forward to", we have to use gerund, which makes the sentence as, "Looking forward to meeting you". However, in almost all the other cases we have to use base form of verb as 'to meet', 'to see', 'to go', etc.

Any specific way / rule to identify this?


texts:
"I can tell who Hank and Bill are, but the fourth is missing, and the third's appearance is ambiguous."

Do I use the second comma or no? "The third's appearance is ambiguous," can stand on its own, but the "but" applies both to the second and third clause.


texts:
"She said she would wait for me to return safely," he said, "and go to the frontline again with me when she recovered."

Do you know why "when clause" is past? My understanding is that it should be present because going to the frontline will happen after she recovers.

I got that sentence from the New York Times. Thank you. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-death-life.html)


texts: what the phrase/ formula of "as is" means

texts:
"As is".

I often run into sentences which have this little formula.
Can you please shed some light on the function of it?
As I understand it is basically "as it is", but always have a feeling that I am missing
out on some subtle meaning and/or that there is not a perfect consensus regarding what it
is for - but that's just my guess.


texts:
What's the meaning of take over in this context? Does it mean Mexico's population is becoming bigger than the US?

  P1: World population doubled in just 36 years, that is f-king unreal. The worst part is
  that the bulk of the reproducing population is 3rd world countries and the lower dregs
  of society (look at poor black families in Detroit vs successful middle class
  households).

  Do you think that we will end up destroying our own world? How long do you think this
  will take?

  P2: Mexicans are taking over the US. China and Japan will shrink. India is growing.


texts: Why sing "tow, row, row, row, row, row" for the British Grenadiers?

texts:
Like "Rule, Britannia!", I like the "British Grenadier March".

I never understood however this phrase in the lyrics, it is in every verse, here Verse 1 for example:

  Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules  Of Hector and Lysander,
  and such great names as these.  But of all the world's great heroes,
  there’s none that can compare.  With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to
  the British Grenadiers

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_British_Grenadiers

What does this mean? Is it a phonetic spelling the sound when swinging a grenade (they were really heavy at those) times) towards the enemy? I really have no clue.


texts: When referring to an inanimate object, is the use of "itself" proper?

texts:
I'm describing how to use M$ remote desktop in an email with the sentence below.

"You can use any software or hardware attached to that computer as if you were sitting at the machine itself."

The use of "itself" seems incorrect. Granted, I could end the sentence at "machine", but is there a more suitable pronoun?


texts:
I'm looking for a word/phrase that means "a team quickly put together from miscellaneous people".

It is NOT "ragtag group"/"motley crew".

I think it is "[something] team"


texts: Why does the King James Bible say "I shall not want" and then "I will fear no evil."

texts:
I have a question relating to the use of "shall" in the Bible. Before asking this question I read the entire Wikipedia article on Shall and will, and have ended up more confused than when I began. There have been some answers on here that attempt to cover the basic difference, but the topic is so complicated and with so many subtle exceptions that no short answer could explain all the differences. Further, there are so many interpretations of "shall" that:

  The legal reference Words and Phrases dedicates 76 pages to
  summarizing hundreds of lawsuits that centered around the meaning of
  the word shall.
  From Wikipedia article, original source plainlanguage.gov

And that NASA, the US Department of Defense, the International Organization for Standardization and various others have specifically given their own definition of the word.
Shall and will: Legal and technical use

However my specific question should be easier to handle, as it particularly asks about one use in Psalm 23 from the Bible. In the King James Version it says:

  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

In the Contemporary English Version it's written as:

  I will never be in need.

And in others, such as the New International Version it isn't even in the future tense:

  The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing

I take the "I shall not want" to mean "I will not be lacking".

However a few lines lower in the same psalm it says:

  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
  fear no evil

Since to me the two lines seem to be saying "I will not be lacking" and "I will fear no evil", I'm curious as to why "shall" is used in the earlier verse, while "will" is used in the later verse given that to me they both seem to be an expression of the future (I don't see a difference).

I've found one rule which seems common:

  There is nonetheless a traditional rule of prescriptive grammar
  governing the use of shall and will. According to this rule, when
  expressing futurity and nothing more, the auxiliary shall is to be
  used with first person subjects (I and we), and will is to be used in
  other instances.
  Uses of shall and will in expressing futurity

However the subject in both verses is "I", so this rule doesn't apply.

The only thing I can think of is that the translators back in about 1604 - 1611 had intended something different from just expressing simple "futurity" in the earlier verse, maybe something akin to:

  The Lord is my shepherd; [it is expected I will not be lacking].

However it's strange I can't find a translation to this effect, the other translation I quoted above says:

  I will never be in need.

Is it because one is about desiring and the other is about fearing evil?

Maybe this question might be suited to a Bible site, but I believe the use of "shall" and "will" is really an English question.

If anyone has an idea of why the difference in the two verses, I'd appreciate any information.


texts:
Isn't it a bit odd to say that genes belong to or are a part of a "pool"?   A pool is normally a body of water, e.g. a swimming pool

Wikipedia explains

  The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. This also proves to be the basic level at which evolution occurs. [...] A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can survive bouts of intense selection

Merriam-Webster defines it as

  biology: all of the genes in a particular group of people or animals

  Full Definition of GENE POOL
    the collection of genes in an interbreeding population that includes each gene at a certain frequency in relation to its alleles :  the genetic information of a population of interbreeding organisms e.g.the human gene pool

  First Known Use: 1946

I know we have the term carpool, and  we can say "to pool our resources" but why was the term pool specifically chosen/used in gene pool?  Is it metaphorical?

EDIT

A pool can be a single mass of liquid, a reservoir of water; a number of people who share the same profession, a typing pool; people who share a car, or, travel as passengers for part of the journey, carpooling. The terms gene banks, sperm and egg banks express the concept of preservation and a place where one can have easy access, but we never mention sperm pool, egg pool or bone marrow pool and yet each individual sperm, egg, bone marrow and human gene is unique unto itself.

Who coined the term gene pool and why was pool specifically chosen (if there was a reason).


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct, use of pronouns

texts:
I was wondering if this sentence is grammatically correct:

  The veracity of mathematical facts transcends the limits of human knowledge, which only precludes our understanding of it.

I wanted to switch "it" with "them" (referring to the mathematical facts), but the subject of the sentence is the veracity (of mathematical facts), so the plural "them" would be incorrect. Am I wrong?


texts: Comma use in sentence that includes enumeration

texts:
Which sentence is correct, i.e., do I need a comma?

I will introduce the topics A, B, and C.

OR

I will introduce the topics, A, B, and C.


texts: Including extra material as a means of distracting from primary material

texts:
I'm looking for a term that is essentially a diversionary tactic, and which I will explain by example.  I have been told that some filmmakers deliberately add blatantly gratuitous material into what they submit to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, the group responsible for censoring/rating movies).  This is done so that MPAA reviewers focus on cutting the blatantly gratuitous material (for the film to achieve the desired rating) and, as a result, permit more of the other material to pass through untouched.

To distinguish from a red herring (or similar terms), note that this technique is always deliberate and that this trick has two functions:

Distraction: the second party expends less effort on other material as a result of the more objectionable material.
Distortion:  the more objectionable material makes other material appear less concerning.

I do not associate this second function with a red herring.  In particular, the more objectionable content is on-topic, not irrelevant, which is what makes the second method possible.

This trick is not unique to the film industry.  For instance, a politician hoping to get a bill passed that increases school funding could add clauses with exceedingly generous subsidies for retired teachers, expecting that these will be cut back or removed, so that other material of greater interest to the politician is left intact.  The use of animated ads in StackExchange's new ad program is, potentially, another example of this, and is the motivator for this question.


texts: "Sport", "sports", and "sporting" as modifiers

texts:
Is there a difference between a "sports jacket", a "sport jacket", and a "sporting jacket"? Or are these merely dialectal differences?

For instance, why do various outerwear and sportswear brands call some pieces "sports" and others "sporting" within a same collection or line?

It sounds to me like "sporting" designates only those pieces associated with recreational countryside/outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, and bird watching, and so a "sporting jacket" would be a sort of country-style, multi-pocket, mid-length waxed/waterproof coat with or without a hood.

That said, we say "sporting house" and "sporting lady" as euphemisms for "brothel" and "prostitute", and "sporting goods" has a sense of sportswear items at large to it rather than a specific range.

Unlike "sporting", I guess "sports" and "sport" might have some relation -- to a lesser or greater degree -- with cars, back in the old days when the activity of driving an automobile would imply a certain attire, composing mostly of a jacket, a cap, and a pair of gloves. From these bygone days might have originated the terms "sports" and "sport" found in "sportswear", "sports/sport car", "sports/sport coat or jacket", etc.


texts: "Used to go" vs. "attended" — which one is correct here?

texts:
I attended x institute for almost ten years. Last year I completed an advanced book entitled Landmark. Taking the advice of one of my teachers, I enrolled at another institute for a teacher training course.
I used to go x institute for almost ten years. Last year I competed an advanced book entitled Landmark. Taking the advice of one of my teachers, I enrolled at another institute for a teacher training course.

Which version is better?


texts: Word choice - What's the phrase to describe the idea that relative positions in society are meaningless?

texts:
I'm trying to describe the idea that relative positions in society are meaningless.

So far I've come up with counterculturalism, societal positional nihilism, a 'beatnik'.

I'm sure there is something more concise.


texts: What does the word 'carcareal' mean when referring to policies?

texts:
In The Enigma of Capital: And the Crises of Capitalism by David Harvey on page 240 the author alludes to an "... anti-democratic, money-saturated and carcareal drift of capitalist state policies..." which, as far as I can see, is the only time the word 'carcareal' occurs in the book.

I've searched Google and some on-line dictionaries but so far haven't found any definition or use of the word in a similar context that would give me a clue what it means. To me the context makes me think of the word 'carcass' and connotes morbidity and death but that's a wild guess.


texts: Why do speakers from India frequently overuse the phrase "the same"?

texts:
In working with overseas teams, as well as with reading text written by speakers from India, I notice a strong overusage of the following types of phrases:

Please reply with the same.
Kindly review the same and let us know of any issue.
I am trying to do the same.

I'm curious what construct within the Indian language(s) is responsible for this particular phrase? This usage, while correct, is pretty uncommon among native speakers.


texts:
I often come across this type of thing and wondered if anyone could tell me the correct usage.
I have a sentence that reads "As you go through various settings, you will have the option to allow certain activities..."
My instinct is to say "...you will have the option of allowing..."

Which is correct?


texts: Is there a word for words that have the greatest distance in active use?

texts:
So I have some text that I want to analyze as part of a statistical analysis. I'm specifically interested in the relationships of words. I'm looking for:

The most frequently used 'word pairs' eg. the words which based on their average frequency in the text are most regularly adjacent to each other.
The most distant words eg. frequently used words tend to have the most words between them on average.

While I relate to the first example as 'frequent word pairs' I'm trying to find out what to call those word combinations with the largest distance between them.

Update

To clarify as there have been a fair few comments: I'm not looking at the distance of any word pairs but those words where the usage is most frequently increased in a subset of text compared to the average corpus of words.

An example will be words with an increased word frequency in a specific subreddit on reddit.


texts: Why do few people say "How is your today?"?

texts:
My mom asks me "How is your today?" every day. I have been trying to tell her that nobody ever says that, and that most people say,

"How is your day?" (somehow, using the noun day is more acceptable than using the noun today here)
"How is your day going?" (now the question is about the going of the day, rather than the day itself)
"How are you today?" (using today as an adverb to describe the verb are, and now the question is about you rather than about the day)

But I am having trouble articulating why exactly so few people say "How is your today?", and whether it is even wrong to say that.

I am reading https://www.dictionary.com/browse/today and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/today and it appears to be a noun like any other. If it is okay to say "How is your [noun]?" like the following examples:

"How is your dog?"
"How is your day?"
"How is your Monday?"

...then why can't we say, "How is your today?"?

If there really is something special about the noun "today" which precludes it from being used in this way, then oughtn't dictionaries make a note of these unique restrictions?


texts:
The expression "to talk by the phone" is correct and I'm pretty sure if you use "through" instead of "by" it makes sense as well, but what about this expression:
•You never know what's gonna come THROUGH that door•

Could I use "by" in the expression (or sentence) from above? I know the word "by" has a lot of meanings but in this case, to me, it means "by the means of" so is this correct? I know it may not be that common but could it still be considered  as correct?

It's like saying:
Travel by car or Travel through car, to me both of these are ok but the first one is more common


texts: Is English converging or diverging in modern times?

texts:
For the entire history of the world, languages in disparate groups of people have tended to diverge, creating new languages.  The many English dialects of today would likely have become different languages under the normal progression of history.

But modern times have thrown a wrench into this.  Modern travel and immigration have meant that we often meet speakers of another English dialect in daily life.  Movies and television assist a lot in this as well - mostly Hollywood spreading Americanisms, but there is plenty of British media spreading as well.  The internet means that I can post this and any English speaker can read it.

Has this all meant that English is converging, or are they still diverging?


texts: Can I say this in English: "Hard- and Software"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Use of hyphens when writing repeated compound words that has common parts

In German we can use a hyphen as indication that there is a continuation of the current word somewhere else in the sentence, such as in "hard- and software".

Other examples: "de- and reconstruction", "boy- or girlfriends", …

I haven't seen this use of a hyphen in English. But is the use of a hyphen allowed?


texts: What's a word for someone who likes the finer things in life - classy taste, but makes do and replicates that expensive taste with cheap things?


texts: When did "Happy ending" get used as a euphemism?

texts:
Once upon a time, happy ending was only used in the context of fiction. But since then, it's been used as a euphemism for sexual release at the end of an erotic massage.

When did "Happy ending" get the second meaning? Was this meaning made popular by non-native speakers of English?

Google NGrams isn't useful because of the existing meaning, and the Online Etymology Dictionary pointedly only refers to the original meaning:

  Happy ending in the literary sense recorded from 1756.


texts: Should a phrase which is the subject of a sentence or paragraph be quoted?

texts:
From the Grammarist website:

  In a manner of speaking is an idiom that means the same as ‘in other words’ or ‘so to speak’.

They've bolded the phrase which is the subject of discussion, but have quoted the two other phrases used for explanation. This seems inconsistent to me.

Are there rules or best practices regarding the use of quotes (or other punctuation?) to refer to phrases in this way? Would "in a manner of speaking" be better quoted, or marked up some other way, in their explanation?


texts:
I am currently working with writing so-called 'fancy' English sentences, and here is one of such samples:

  Of course, moi knew about that ring atop of the other rubbish thou acquired!

A 'normal' translation I am going for would be something like following:

  Of course I knew you got that ring in addition to the rest of the junk you purchased!

Can I use atop of as a meaning "in addition to"? Or should I try rephrasing it completely?


texts: What is an acceptable short term for "days this business will be closed"

texts:
I'm a developer, and looking for a clean label for a menu item which leads to a calendar where the user can choose certain days where the business will be closed. This will prevent events from being created on these days, as well as show different message on the frontend instead of a generic 'no events found for today'

In an example sentence, such a word would be used as such:

I love my job, but with all the ___________ I don't get enough hours.

The answer does not need to be only one word, A few are acceptable.


texts: Is it right to say "Thank you" in the response of "Thank you"?

texts: When two persons help each other and one said "thank you" then is it right to say "Thank you" in the response.


texts:
"Of all the visual arts, architecture affects our lives most directly for it determines the character of the human environment in major ways."
I was reading an article and saw this sentence. I couldn't understand why this sentence is correct. Isn't "it determines..." a complete sentence itself?


texts: Is it idiomatic to modify "do/does not" with adverbs?

texts:
Susan secretly goes to the club.

The above sentence means that Susan does go to the club, but keeps her going to the club from others. Let's now negative the verb of the sentence. Thus we want to say that Susan does not go to the club, but keeps her not going to the club from others. So we say:

  Susan secretly does not go to the club.

Does the above sentence mean what we want? If so, is it idiomatic to modify "does not" with an adverb. It seems to me that in English above sentences are usually changed so that the adverb modify a positive verb. Like:

  Susan secretly ceases to go to the club.

Of course it there are cases of "adverb + do/does not" Source, but my question is whether it is the common way to say such sentences.


texts:
Earth is the only planet we know of where life exists.

This sentence is  from the commentary of Planet Earth.

Why it is  know of in this sentence? Can it be know about？

What’s the difference between know of and know about?


texts: Is 'place' functioning as an adverb or is the relative 'where' dropped in these sentences?

texts:
1)Of course it's always the last place you look. (no 'at')
2)This is the last place I want to go. (without 'to')
compare 3) with 2)

This is the restaurant that we often go to on the weekends.
There is 'to' after 'go'.

So can 'place'function as an adverb especially when it's modified by some clauses? And regular nouns of place like 'restaurant' can't? Or is it that the relative 'where' often gets dropped after 'place'? It's sort of like a zero-relative-conjunctions situation here? like the day I graduated?


texts: Capitalisation after e.g. in a dotpoint list

texts:
I am confused how I should treat capitalisation in the following cases:

Example 1

Include the following themes in your writing:

respect, e.g. students must respect their teachers.

Q1: Should "students" start with a capital letter (note it is a complete sentence).

Example 2

There are many types of punctuations:

full stop ends a sentence, e.g. the dog belongs to my neighbour.

Q2: Should "the" start with a capital letter (note it is a complete sentence).

Finally,

Q3: Should the list start with a capital letter (e.g. Respect or Full stop) and end with a full stop.


texts:
When you have a series of questions, should you capitalize the first letter of each question?

Example:

  How should this strategy be developed? how can the political decision-makers and those who receive and deliver care be involved in order to obtain their support? how can a reliable and sustainable program be implemented?


texts: Does the verb to "resolve" collocate with "situation"?

texts:
To resolve means:

to find an answer or solution to (something) : to settle or solve (something)
to make a definite and serious decision to do something

Can the verb to resolve collocate with the noun situation which means:

all of the facts, conditions, and events that affect someone or something at a particular time and in a particular place

[Merriam-Webster]


texts:
There is no chance the email you recieved isn't a scam.

How to interpret this sentence? If I attempt to remove the double negative, it doesn’t make much sense to me at all.

There is a chance the email you received is a spam? Is this a valid reading of email?

A non-native English speaker here.


texts: "Sorry for bothering you" vs. "sorry to bother you"

texts: Is it grammatically OK to use "Sorry for bothering you"? I often hear "Sorry to bother you".


texts: What is the name for the grammatical figure, where the present tense is substituted for a past event?

texts:
I am preparing a book for publication which contains the following passage:

  Stromberg in Religious Liberalism in Eighteenth-Century England
  (1954) noted that 'the critical moment in the emergence of a positive
  spirit of reform...consisted in the awareness of evil as being social
  and remediable. It begins about 1750.'

My proof reader (my wife) has picked this out suggesting it should be the past tense. However if I say It began about 1750 it seems to convey too much certainty about the exact date. I just want to convey an impression of it being something which emerges in the mid-eighteenth century. I believe use of the present tense is the way to go.

But what is this artifice called, this use of the present to convey mild uncertainty?


texts: If one wishes to add "non" in front of a hyphenated adjective, should one add a hyphen after "non?"


texts: Short, Politically Correct word for Native Americans

texts:
No more than four syllables, more PC than Indians.

EDIT: I arbitrarily chose four syllables because any more seemed like a mouthful. I like to be PC and not have to stumble over 6+ syllables.


texts: 'Who' or 'which' in reference to companies

texts:
What is appropriate to use here, who or which?

  There are around 50 companies who/which deliver scanning services to private and business consumers.


texts:
In this sentence, in the catching of is grammatically incorrect, but I cannot tell how:

  The new system, which uses remote cameras in the catching of speeding motorists, may undermine the police department's authority.

Can someone explain?


texts: Using past participle vs existent noun form for adjective

texts:
There are multiple ways a noun can be described by an adjective

by a word that is already an adjective (e.g., big, dark, high, low)
by a noun (mushroom house)
by a participle (running dogs, painted house)

However, I am often confused. Actually not confused, because I believe I see the picture clearer than the normal usage. Anyway, confused over the deployment of a past participle when the noun form is sufficient as the adjective:

white-tail deer vs white-tailed deer.
red-hair girl vs red-haired girl.
bottle-nose dolphin vs bottle-nosed dolphin.

Because, then, why wouldn't we say

chickened rice but chicken rice
pepper jacked cheese but pepper jack cheese
pepperonied pizza but pepperoni pizza
yellow-doored house but yellow-door house
Intel-Pentiumed PC but Intel-Pentium PC

??

The more acceptable form is bottle-nose dolphin, not bottle-nosed dolphin. Yet the more acceptable form is white-tailed deer, not white-tail deer.

How unacceptable is it to say

red-hair girl
white-tail deer
bottle-nosed dolphin
wet-backed migrant

??

Why or why not? Do provide examples of other noun vs past participle adjectives.


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "War never changes"

texts:
All the games of the Fallout franchise start their intro with the phrase

  War. War never changes...

I was wondering if this was an original phrase or was it from literature or some speech?


texts: Subject-verb agreement with prepositional phrase antecedent and pronoun

texts:
One of the engineers who design those programs is visiting with us today?

or

  One of the engineers who designs those programs is visiting with us today?


texts:
This question comes about because I usually always spell the word incorrectly and the spell checker underlines in red the word: compatible.

In my head, I always want to spell it compatable, and my logic is as follows.

First, look at a definition:

  Definition of compatible
  a. - Capable of existing in harmony; congruous; suitable; not repugnant; -- usually followed by with.

There's a few words in there that make sense to my brain. Capable and suitable both have the -able suffix, because they can do something.

The root of the suffix is pretty self-explanatory.  Able, suggestive of the ability to do whatever it is that the suffix is appended to.

Examples of words that make sense to me are:

persuadable: the ability, or able-ness to be persuaded
placable: [...] to be placed
unappeasable: the inability, or unable-ness to be appeased

Other words of which the spellings are confusing to me: accessible, compatible, fallible, immersible

Why the -ible, and not -able when the end result seems to be expressing the same able-ness?  To me, they should be spelled accessable, compatable, fallable, immersable.

What's the root of -ible being used and not -able?


texts: Is there a term for filler sounds in written language

texts:
Is there a term for the use of filler sounds in written language?  For example, when someone writes:

"Um, what?  Everybody knows that."  or
"Oh, I guess you didn't know."

I understand in the spoken word these sounds can serve the purpose of signaling a pause in speech and are referred to as fillers.  Is there a different term for the written word, and is there a purpose to these other than an attempt to convey some kind of emotional tone to the sentence.


texts: Searching for a synonym or an alternate Phrase

texts:
I am looking for a synonym or a phrase that means, that

  after reading a particular thought my perspective / way to look at life has changed in a good manner.

Basically this is for my new blog name, it will be a collection of good quotes from/for life…

I was not able to find a good one, as most of the blog names are already taken, so looking for a different one...


texts: What is the meaning of "he is late on his front"?

texts:
I saw it in a subtitle of a movie. I searched Google for it, but found nothing.
So I thought it might be wrong or it is not quite uncommon.
Then I decided asking here.

The context is: a guy #1 owes someone some drug pill, and the one who said this, said that the guy #1 is late on his front, as he is owing him money.


texts: Which is correct? "Until the 1990s, no one knew the fact." or "Until the 1990s, no one had known the fact."

texts: I think "Until the 1990s, no one had known the fact." is grammatically true. Is the other one using the past tense is acceptabe? Or it is also true? Or it is not grammatically true?


texts: What's the word for using alternative descriptions in place of a name?

texts:
There's a word for a replacement of a name with a description of that person, place or whatever thing the name belongs to. This is a very common rhetorical device (especially in newspapers and magazines) but I only once saw the name of this device, and I can't recall it.

For example, a journalist writing about Walt Disney might start out by calling him "Disney," but somewhere in the article you might find the journalist replacing the name with with a description, like so: "The media mogul said that he wanted to..."

Anyone know what word I'm talking about?


texts: Why do people say the boyfriend instead of my boyfriend?

texts: Why do people sometimes say the boyfriend instead of my boyfriend? Is it slang native to a particular part of the country?


texts: What is a word for someone who hates to see others hurt or hates to cause pain to others?

texts: I'm trying to find an adjective that describes someone who hates to inflict pain on others. This character doesn't want to tell his relative how an event went because he knows the outcome of the event would hurt his relative (if that makes any sense at all). I'm trying to use a word other than selfless because I feel I have it used it enough and I don't want to make it repetitive.


texts: What does "a run of resources mega- project" mean?

texts:
I'm translating an English text and when I came to this part I couldn't fully understand it. The quote is from an Australian newspaper. (Emphasis mine)

  Woodside had been targeting a final investment decision this year and today’s announcement represents the shelving of Australia’s last chance to continue a run of resources mega-project approvals that have seen $200bn of LNG investments approved in the past decade.

What does "a run of resources mega-project" mean? Please help me understand it.


texts:
In literature, I often see landcover, land cover, and even land-cover. Land cover seems slightly more prevalent than the others. Which is correct?
Land cover is the material covering the Earth's surface: grass, trees, concrete, etc. Here's the Wikipedia definition.
I typically use it in the context of:

The land cover dataset…
90% of land cover classes were…


texts: What is the proper way to use commas when addressing two or more people by placing their names at the start of the sentence?

texts:
I frequently need to address multiple people in writing at work. This is usually done in a way that makes it convenient to at them all at once.
E.g.

@dale, @emily, please take a look at this and, if you approve, transition it to the next step.

Ben, Steve, I'd appreciate it if you could re-review this.

What's the correct way to use commas (or conjunctions?) to address these people when there are more than one of them?


texts: "Is there anyone on the horizon?" What does it really mean?

texts: It happened in a conversation between 2 girls? One girl think that the other one is freaking goregous and she was like "Is there anyone on the horizon?" And the other girl was like "I don't know. I don't think I'm attractive". What does that phrase mean or I have misheard? Can anyone help me?


texts: When to write two-lettered words with capital?

texts:
Let's say I have a few titles here:

  Fire in Our Hands
  Who am I
  Land of Dreams

Do I write the italic words with capitals like the other words,
or is it properly written the way it is?


texts: The meaning of 'relative to equally virtual members'

texts:
Rawls’s veil of ignorance may be intellectually sophisticated, but it is also very alien to our lived experience as humans. How can we imagine ourselves as deliberating, disembodied humans and at the same time situate ourselves relative to equally virtual members of a yet-to-be-established ideal community?(Jonathan Conlin, Critical Lives-Adam Smith)

What does the emphasized phrase mean?


texts:
I see these words use interchangeably in various  contexts. Is there a formal difference or preference?

Please supply relevant examples.


texts: Let's suppose I am going to make a trip down the river on a boat which will last for a few days like that in Three Men in a Boat book. What would you call this type of activity? I have been suggested rafting, but as far as I know it means rather going down quite rough and fast water, as distinct from my case - calm and slow river.


texts: punctuation after beginning sentence with "In summary", "Summing up" or "Last but not least"

texts:
I am often wondering if there is a comma needed after starting a sentence with in summary, summing up or last but not least.
Here are two examples:

Summing up, both children returned home safe.
Last but not least, one has to conclude after all that ...

Is there a rule to decide on this? Intuitively I would say to place a comma because after the specific phrases there is a break when speaking out the sentences.


texts:
When using the set phrase "to date", is it normal or acceptable to indicate a starting date?

To be more specific, the phrase "to date" means "up until now".  I've only ever seen it used on its own meaning pretty much "for all time until now". Can you add a start point as well?

For example, would it be valid to say the following?

  From when I was born to date nobody has landed on the moon.

That sentence feels very wrong to me but I don't know if that's just because I've not seen it or if it is actually a misuse of the phrase.

For what its worth, this question was inspired by the earlier question today "What does '2007-date' mean?", where there are some suggesting that "2007 - Date" might be linked to the set phrase "to date".


texts: What would you call "Public Viewing" (people watching football match) in English?

texts:
I recently had to find out that the German term "Public Viewing" basically means something completely different in English, than in German. Now I'm looking for a term that English native speakers would naturally use.

In German the term "Public Viewing" is used for a public event, where people are gathering to watch a football match live on more or less big screens. Since the football world cup was held in Germany in 2006 such events have become quite popular. Many bars and restaurants have "Public Viewing" evenings – but in some cities there are also events with several thousands of spectators attending.

Through wikipedia I found that maybe "Public Screening" would be the term to use instead – however I'm not sure if that is really the case. Now I'm looking for the right term – any help or pointers would be appreciated.


texts: Is the "of" in "a lot of" a preposition?

texts:
Is "of" in "a lot of time" a preposition?

I am working on a task about the identification of prepositions and their objects. I am not sure about "a lot of", and for some reason it seems unbreakable.


texts: What does “Being brought up to speed is as important as being brought up to grade” mean?

texts:
There was an interesting (tantalizing to me) commentary written by Adam Gopnik on these fantasy fictions: The Sword of Shannara / The Lord of the Rings / The Simarillion / The Children of Hurin, JRR Tolkien and so-called his follower Christopher Paolini (the Eragon series) in New Yorker (December 5), which was titled “The Dragon’s Egg.”

I say tantalizing because I have almost no knowledge of these works apart from “The Lord of the Rings” (that I only know as a movie). I know even less of Ossian (third century Irish bard) and other medieval bards quoted in the article as if they are common knowledge.

The commentary ends with the following sentences:

  We mostly learn that lore in the form of conventions - how you hold the knife, where you put it, that John was the witty Beatle, Paul the winning one. Learning in symbolic form that the past can be mastered is as important as learning in dramatic form that your choices resonate; Being brought up to speed is as important as being brought up to grade. Fantasy fiction tells you that history is available, that past counts.”

I don’t understand what the phrase “being brought up to Speed is as important as being brought up to Grade” means. What have “Speed” and “Grade” to do with the benefits of fantasy fictions?
Can somebody explain it for me?


texts: What are buyers and sellers (or customers and suppliers)

texts:
I'm programming a simple software to manage products, buyers/sellers and sales/purchases orders.
A product is simply a product, but what is the english word that refers to both the categories of buyers and sellers (or customers and suppliers)?
I just cannot find the correct term (if it exists), not even in my own language.
Some options I thought would be: ThirdParty, Person, Company. And finally, given the correct word, when I want to state if the ThirdParty is a buyer or a seller, what is it? A type?
I hope my question is clear and pertinent to english.stackexchange. Thank you.


texts: Which tense should be used in this sentence, past simple or present perfect simple?

texts:
Van Gogh has sold only one painting during his lifetime.
OR
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime.


texts:
“ A company spokeswoman told the Guardian: “We operate under the constraints of US laws, which vary by circumstance.” ”
I can not understand what varies. Constraints or laws?


texts:
What is the difference between "Did you find?" and "Have you found?"

When should I use the first sentence, and when the second one?


texts:
I heard people saying "Of-fen" as well as "Of-ton".
Till now I have been using the first one but few days ago I had an interviewer who pronounced often "Of-Ton" while interviewing.


texts: What's the correct usage of "tell" here?

texts:
Which sentence is grammatically correct:

  I will tell your consultant.

or

  I will tell to your consultant.


texts: Confusion over the general rules governing the use of the hyphen in English

texts:
I often get confused by the rules for using hyphens. According to this entry from the Oxford Dictionaries web site, I must always use a hyphen in these cases:

  Hyphens are used in many compound words to show that the component words have a combined meaning.
  Hyphens can be used to join a prefix to another word, especially if the prefix ends in a vowel and the other word also begins with one (e.g. pre-eminent or co-own).
  Hyphens can also be used to divide words that are not usually hyphenated.

Ok, with these three rules in mind, I suppose I should write living-room: after all, these two words have a combined meaning. To support this argument, I may say we write bedroom — one word only — which means we’ve combined bed and room to refer to one thing, the bedroom. So living room should either be hyphenated or written together as only one single word.

Equally, food handling department should be written as food-handling department even though as with living-room, I have never actually seen it written with a hyphen.

I am a bit confused. Isn’t hyphenating these words arguably a grammatical error,  or does hyphen usage vary from one country to another?  (I mean, for example, that perhaps in England they write living room, in Australia livingroom, and in Canada  perhaps living-room.)

As tchrist pointed out in the comment section, hyphen usage has nothing to do with grammar. It's only a ortographic convention.

The reason I'm asking this question is: I once took an IELTS preparing course and there was a question whose answer was food-handling department but I wrote food handling department. My answer was considered to be wrong - according to the entity behind the course, food-handling department was the only acceptable answer.

Given hypen usage is only convention and not grammar, can we really say I got that question wrong?


texts: Name for altering a well known phrase in an obvious to convey a "new" concept?

texts:
I think most people are well aware what a drag-queen is (a man dressed/acting as a woman), but I've never before today heard the phrase "drag-king"

I can however, easily arrive at the conclusion that the speaker intends to convey the concept of "a woman dressed/acting as a man"

-

Back in the 70s, Richard Nixon's actions gave us "watergate" - simply the name of a group of buildings. There's no real reason why the -gate prefix should become synonymous with something scandalous, but it has and someone can say to me "iPhone 6 - bendgate!" and I arrive at the understanding that there's a scandal relating to the phone bending

-

Is there a name for the process that one goes through, taking the well known, modifying it in an obvious way so that the listener can receive the new info/modification, trace enough of the original phrase to understand what it was and apply the transformation in their own mind?


texts: Is there a word or phrase used to describe a place that you spend lots of time in or you're overly used to?

texts: It could also be an idiom or reference to something as well, that would work. I'm currently using "bedroom" as this, which seems to work, but I'd appreciate a better word for this.


texts:
What do I call someone who has a "things are as I say they are" attitude?

Example: I say the sky is green, if you don't agree I will punch you till you do.

or

Example: Someone says they are from a city when fact is they are from somewhere else. When you confront them with the truth they react like you haven't said anything.


texts: How should the "^" symbol be pronounced? I searched on the internet but couldn't find an answer.


texts:
I am not sure where to ask the question. Will be grateful if someone would move it to the right site.

Right now you can see StackExchange in the left upper corner. Let us google the meaning of the stack here:

  a pile of something, usually neatly arranged
  (computing) a way of storing information in a computer in which the most recently stored item is the first to be retrieved (= found or got back)

And let us google the meaning of stuck here:

  unable to move or to be moved
  in an unpleasant situation or place that you cannot escape from

Given those two definitions it seems naturally to ask: Why do we have StackExchange instead of StuckExchange?


texts: Descriptions of frequency versus present tense

texts:
Is there ever a difference between descriptions of frequency and the present tense?

For example, is there a difference between "I speak English." (referring to  frequent speaking of English) and "I speak." (in present tense, as you might see in a first-person narrative)?

If so, what is it? If not, why isn't there a difference between the two?

I apologize for my vagueness in use of the word "difference". I'm asking for any sort of difference, even at the most general level, in how the two are used in a sentence.


texts: I want to understand what Chandler means when he says he's maxed out after thinking he's embarrassed by his bunny costume.


texts:
I intend that the word 'it' refers to the personality in the sentence below. I would like to know if it is properly placed.
Since the innumerable mental programs drive the personality, it is mostly unconscious.
Thanks


texts: What do you call words that are typed the same way on a phone keypad?

texts:
Words that are pronounced the same are homophones.
Words that are spelled the same are homonyms.
What do you call words that are typed the same way on a telephone keypad? (you have to watch out for them when typing text messages!)

Example: good and home are both typed as 4663 using Predictive Text.


texts:
Should I use got or was in the sentence below?

Many years thereafter, he ... promoted to [...]

This might be somewhat related to this question, but I'm not sure.

Edit:

After reading some of the answers, I realize that I should have specified that I am writing a paragraph for a formal, business-related biography. If I would like to emphasize that the promotion was earned; would it be more natural to use got? I am asking, because people seem to perceive got as the less formal option, whereas, to me, was implies an "effortless" promotion.

To me, it becomes a debate of what I would like to emphasize:

"They promoted him because he deserved it." (Got)

"They promoted him because they had to." (Was)


texts: "Adult and children stories" or "Adults and children stories"?

texts:
How do you say it correctly?

Adult and children stories
Adults and children stories
Adults' and children's stories
other?


texts:
When writing file extentions, (mainly on Ask Ubuntu) I write .txt or .avi.

Should I write an .avi file or a .avi file?

Because if I was to say it outloud, I would say a dot avi - but I am not sure whether this is right.


texts: How do Brits pronounce [ee] in "queen" differently to [i] in "pita"?

texts:
This explanation of Welsh pronunciation says Welsh u is pronounced like i in pita, whereas Welsh i is pronounced like ee in Queen.

What's the difference?


texts: How to talk about actions with repetition in the past?

texts:
One way to talk about the actions that one commonly did in the past is using the modal "would". Now if I do not want to use it, how I can say my story.

For example,

  When I was a lecturer, I go to the class every Tuesday, first give the new material and then talk about the possible questions of the students. I also upload some new exercises after each session.

In this grammatically correct?

P.S. If I am not wrong one alternative way would be using "used to". I do not want to use it either.


texts:
I've stumbled across this sentence:  "I don't need your heavy load. Take it off of my shoulders".

I want to ask, is the usage of "take something off OF" correct?

Thank you in advance,
Matus


texts:
I'm not sure if the saying of the total amount USD 23,428.32 is correct below (esp. the 'cent' part after the dot):

  Say U.S. dollars twenty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-eight and thirty-two cents.

And if it is 23,428.00, do I say

  Say U.S. dollars twenty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-eight only.


texts: 1:1 is one on one. How do you say 1:2, 1:3 and so on?

texts:
I googled it but didn't get a result.
Such as in one on one lesson.
Thank you for your help.


texts: How should rhetorical questions be inserted into a sentence?

texts:
I was reading the book "Quiet" by Susan Cain and a sentence came up that eluded me:

  What does it mean to be quiet AND have fortitude? these descriptions asked implicitly.

There were no quotation marks around the rhetorical question, and the word "these" wasn't capitalized after the question mark. Is this really the correct way to insert an unquoted question into a sentence, or is it a publishing error?

Sorry if this is a duplicate, but I haven't seen someone answer a post with the grammar like this sentence, much less answer how to insert an unquoted, rhetorical question into a sentence.


texts: Does a modifier before a conjunction like `and` apply to both the subjects of `and`?

texts:
Suppose I have the following sentence:

a work is classical by reason of its resistance to contemporaneity and supposed universality

How should one go about comprehending the bold part in it?
Which one of the following meaning is correct?

( resistance to contemporaneity ) and (supposed universality)
resistance to (contemporaneity and supposed universality)

Apart from this specific sentence do we have a general rule for these kind of scenarios?


texts: Is there an onomatopoeia for coughing up blood?

texts:
I'm writing a short story for my EAL Class and I was thinking of an onomatopoeia
for coughing up blood. I tried all the words I knew but nothing felt quite right.
Is there a proper English word that I can use to express this action?


texts: "How much is faster the train than the car?"

texts:
How much is faster the train than the car?
  How much is the train faster than the car?

Which one is correct?


texts: What is the meaning of the sentence "I'll serve you out" from Dickens' Great Expectations?

texts:
In Chapter 18, Mr Wopsle is at the Three Jolly Bargemen, giving his audience a theatrical rendition of a murder case as reported in the newspaper:

  The victim faintly moaned, "I'm done for," and the murderer barbarously bellowed, "I'll serve you out."

Is the usage of the phrasal verb "serve out" possibly a reference to the killing of an animal in order to serve it up as a dish in a meal?


texts:
If we think of a world in which a remote control does not get lost
  as normal, when it disappears we get angry (Botton, 2000).

Here I am looking for a word instead of as normal, maybe more than one word. I think it can be understood what I meant by as normal. Could you help out?


texts: What is the origin of "head off" in the sense "to prevent"?

texts:
Where does the meaning of "to head off" in the sense

:to turn back or turn aside : block, prevent
// head them off at the pass
// attempts to head off the imminent crisis

(Merriam-Webster)
originate?


texts: I'm editing an op-ed for a friend, and her title includes "the stigma cuts deeply". Sure, deeply can work adverbially here, but am I wrong to think that "deep" can also work? The former meaning that it's cutting deeply as a sort of continuous act and the latter as a kind of singular, in-the-instance example and therefore "deep"?


texts:
We found a gravestone in Ashby MA. with an old word on it we could not understand.

  "Lot, son of ... was scolt to death Decr. 8, 1806, aged 2 years and 10 months.".

We are not sure what scolt means - has anyone else come across this word before?

Google was unhelpful.


texts:
Is "whosoever" used correctly in the following sentence? Is this sentence correct as a whole?

  Whosoever monk or priest sees this, may s/he take it, I've offered.

The context is: A man, in order to offer some money to the priest, goes to the temple but he sees no one there. So he puts the money there and utters the sentence mentioned above.


texts: Word that is the string of characters/phonemes that compose a 'word'?

texts:
The string "cool" represents several 'words'/linguistic meanings: [<adj.: cold, nippy>, <adj.: calm, collected>, <adj.: aloof, disapproving>, <adj.: excellent>, <verb: chill>, <verb: take a break; abate>]

Is there a word/term that describes the string of characters that is a set of 'words'/elements of speech?

I'm trying to name a Python object/class.

Or is "cool" just a word and that word has several definitions?

If homonyms are two words that are spelled the same and sound the same but have different meanings, "cool" must be the spelling that represents the set of words.


texts: Difference between "dominion" and "domination"

texts:
I don't have a clear idea on the ways these two similar-sounding words differ. The dictionary definitions aren't that helpful in this regard.

I read once in some spiritual book that it is written in the Bible: "Man has complete dominion over nature and other creations of God..." or something along those lines, and that 'dominion' means stewardship. At first, I thought "dominion" was the noun form of "dominate". Again I googled the term and found that my guess was right. Yet, the book says 'dominion' means stewardship. And supervising something is not quite the same as having a dominance over something, is it?


texts: I've been scouring the internet for this and I'm pretty sure it's an /ɛ/ or /ei/ but I've also seen it pronounced as a long /i/ (as in beat) or as a weird /aeo/.


texts: Word for exploiting one's title/designation

texts: What's the word for when someone uses the power of their title or designation to get some work done or extract some information? I know there's a very specific word for this, and it's not exploit or leverage.


texts:
Let's say there's a video game that never gets boring no matter how much you play it, because there's always something new to do in it. What would be a term to describe the game?

The opposite would be a "repetitive" game that gets boring quickly, because there's only one thing to do in it.


texts: Alternative for "dead-end job" that is not disrespectful

texts:
A position with a company may be high paying with lots of perks, but otherwise offer no opportunity for growth. Some might consider this a "dead-end job" but that has a negative connotation. Is there a term for such a position that honors the post?

Reading through Wikipedia on dead-end job is interesting but points to no positive term. I'm wondering if such a thing exists.

Thanks.

EDIT: I think "limited growth opportunity" is the best fit so far (from the comments).


texts:
I just received a message containing "I're":

  Glad April and I're so different.

I've never seen this used before (I suppose as it's so unnecessary, saving just one character when writing) yet I can't find anything which claims that this isn't correct English.

Can "I are" be validly shortened to "I're"?


texts:
Is it acceptable to use a gerund phrase as the subject of a sentence? More generally, can a gerund phrase be used interchangeably with other nouns? For example:

  Understanding history enhances one's judgment.

I feel it makes more sense to write:

  An understanding of history enhances one's judgment.


texts:
Just a quick question, is implementers the plural of the word implementer?
My computer spellcheck complains about it, however https://www.thefreedictionary.com/implementers and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/implementer#English seem to think it is a proper word.
Can anyone shed any light on what the correct plural of the word implementer is?


texts: How can I explain the use of “a” in “what [comparative] a [noun]...”?

texts:
In the following example sentences the word “a” is used correctly, however I am having trouble explaining why to a non-native speaker:

“Never had more handsome a man walked the earth.”

“And what more perfect a way to end the event?”

“More powerful a witch the world has never seen.”

I’m aware these sentences might be considered ‘literary’ and few people would converse in such terms, but I could do with some help deconstructing and justifying the use of “a” in this form.


texts: Words to differentiate between Class and Wealth

texts:
While there are many answers differentiating between class in a moral sense, (e.g. "Look at Johnny, cavorting with clowns. He truly has no class.") and wealth (see here, I can't find any between class with regards to social standing and wealth, for instance:

What would be a word for each of the following:
1. A person without social standing with a great deal of wealth (but isn't necessarily newly wealthy,for instance some of the rich plebeian families of the late Republic)?

2. A person with great social standing but without much wealth (much like the Julian Caesars (or is it Caesarian Julians?) during/immediately after Sulla's civil wars, so not nouveau riche as some suggested in the aforementioned question, as they are such an old family, nor even vulgarian, as it is a different kind of class)?


texts: A word or phrase that means to swallow people

texts:
ln some parts of the world, violent earthquakes sometimes make the ground open up and swallow people.
My question is: is there a word or phrase to describe this appalling scene?


texts: Single noun that encompasses both writer and speaker

texts: While writing and speaking are two different skill sets, they have much in common, and there are many people highly skilled in both. For instance, Garrison Keillor is both an excellent writer and an excellent speaker. An orator is someone skilled in writing. An adjective for such a person might be "eloquent." Perhaps there is such a word in another language. But I have not been able to think of a good word that encompasses both--a noun for someone who is good with words in whatever form they might come. The definition would be something like, "One who is eloquent." "Communicator" seems too broad, somehow.


texts: After the quake, everyone saw the glimmers of hope on the horizon.


texts: Which is more certain - "sure" or "confident"?

texts:
My friend and I have an ongoing debate over which word communicates a stronger sense of conviction.

For example, when I'm 98% positive of something I often say "I am confident that's how it happened, but I'm not sure."

He argues that it should be the other way around.

All the dictionaries that I've consulted have used one word in the definition of the other. So far, they're starting to look like synonyms. Is this debate even resolvable?


texts:
What's an antonym for "come into effect" when it is applied to rule/law?

Update:
To make myself clearer: I'm talking about the situation when some rule/law was active (used and applied) and then at some point becomes inactive (doesn't have any power anymore).


texts: Is there a word for long-living but not immortal?

texts:
I am looking for a word that implies a person would live forever unless they are fatally injured.

Immortal does not suit this purpose as it means a person is not subject to death.

Sample:
The vampire is "........" He would live forever unless someone decapitates him.


texts: Is there a word for a middle-aged person who tries too hard to keep up with trends?

texts: Is there a word for when someone (often a middle-aged father) constantly tries too hard to keep up with 'trends'?


texts: Holding your hands in a specific position

texts: How do you tell someone to put their hands in the position shown in the image?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the proper use of [square brackets] in quotes?
  What do brackets in a quote mean?

When I add information beside a word in a Bible verse, what bracket should I use? Parentheses or square brackets?


texts: Why does this sentence use 'so' and 'of' here?

texts:
When I was doing my translation homework, I met a sentence as below:

European architecture in the years immediately before World War I is in some ways more notable for abortive projects and visionary designs than for actual buildings, most startling so in the unrealized projects of Antonio, who was killed in the war.

Why does here use the 'so' and the 'of'? Is there some special use?
Any suggestion shall be appreciated!


texts: Might sound trivial, but I'm irked by "non-trivial" and seeking alternatives

texts:
Non-trivial.
Engineers especially seem to love this expression. Why does it always take me out of the moment? Some of my favorite programmers use this, for example Rich Hickey, the designer of the Clojure language.

Use of the word may be justified, as you can read here. "Non-trivial" usually signifies the quality being difficult to accomplish (or prove). Possible alternatives like significant, important, and substantial don't carry this meaning. What about simply, difficult?


texts: Macbeth or MacBeth (and other Scottish surnames)?

texts: I get the impression that names beginning with Mac generally seem to be followed by a capital, and yet Macbeth doesn’t. Is that impression correct, and why the variation?


texts: Can the continuous form be combined with the passive voice?

texts:
According to the site Study And Exam, passive constructions cannot be used with verb forms such as:

the present perfect continuous construction
the past perfect continuous construction
the future continuous construction
the future perfect continuous construction

But according to this other site, English Page, (which I think is the right one) such constructions can for sure be used in passives.

Is the first site wrong?


texts: Article when there is an adjective before a noun

texts:
When to use a or an before a noun when there are adjectives before that noun?
like the following example:

An operator pressed the button.

should that make:

A professional operator pressed the button.
An professional operator pressed the button.

same for:

A Hypertext markup language.
An Hypertext markup language.

Sometimes it seems a bit confusing, especially when there are more adjectives like:

An omen was revealed to the priest.
A terrible omen was revealed to the priest.
An overwhelming terrible omen was revealed to the priest.

What is the rule?


texts: Word for describing a book with its sheets separated

texts:
What is a suitable word for describing a book that its sheets are separated from each other and its binding?

The intended sentence is something like : He was holding a portion of my XXXXX copy of Jackson's textbook.

Edit after Chris's answer:

I want to imply that the book is unbinded as a result of being used and studied too much.

(You are welcome to modify other parts of the above sentence too, to make it more clear.)


texts: Should you hyphenate "well-prepared" when it is used as a verb, as in the sentence "The night of studying has well-prepared me for the test"?


texts:
I just overheard a conversation between two foreign students and one of them was complaining abot something like this: "I attend every single class while my classmates skip whole days and dare I not share my notes with them , I suddenely become the meanest person in the world."

I'm not sure if I caught it properly, but this dare I not thing got me thinking. Is this correct grammatically? Or how else would you put it? Thanks in advance! :)


texts: Adjective for a particular form of cavalier attitude

texts:
I'm hoping to find a particular word to describe a variant of a cavalier attitude.

I need to describe the attitude of an individual who, knowing that they themselves have been irresponsible, express an impartiality towards the issue and also thrust the blame on someone else.

Such behavior would normally be found in extremely cold, distancing people who give off little emotion and who will uphold their own honor even if it comes at the expense of others. When something goes awry by their own hand, such an individual might coldly start barking orders at someone else to make it seem as if they had no role.

Is there a good adjective to describe this attitude?


texts:
Aside from formality/informality registers, what is to "tote" that is not to "carry" to AE native speakers?

Does "tote", unlike "carry", imply a certain way to hold or support something while moving?


texts: What is the difference between quiet and quiescent?

texts: What is the difference between quiet and quiescent (adjectives)?


texts: Words describing people that cannot stop talking

texts:
What words can be used to describe someone who likes to talk continuously and unstoppably?

Would that be a gabber? What else could you call them?

How do these words relate to the way the person is feeling while they are talking?


texts: Word for something that may be a problem in the future

texts: I want a single word that can be used to describe a situation/course of action which currently causes no problems but may cause issues in the future.


texts: Part-time vs full-time. How is this category called?

texts: I want to give name to a column where values will be "full-time studies" or "part-time studies". How should I name the column?


texts:
I stumbled upon one of Wallace Stevens' letters, dated to 1909, where he describes a Sunday walk. I'm intentionally quoting quite a bit of this text, to give the full context (You can read it here; bold added):

"I am quite shattered by the walk I took yesterday - not less than
thirty miles. [...] Yet it was, as you say, such a glorious day [...]
I passed a camp [... where] they were broiling ham. [...] I did
respond to that sugarey fragnance [...] You know - when you camp in
wild places - and come in at the end of the day, you always find
venison over the fire, or a dozen trouts - and then, there is the hot
bread, and your pipe afterwards [...] and you fall asleep, so tired,
so contented. [...] And when I reached home I was too dusty and worn
out to write [...] I fell all over the bed in a hump. Next Sunday I
hope to do the same thing.

It could be that I'm reading too much into it, but I couldn't find a satisfying definition for this usage of the word "hump" (Or the phrase "In a hump"). I'll paste here Merriam-Webster definition as an example:

Definition of hump
1 : a rounded protuberance: such as
          a : humpback 1
          b : a fleshy protuberance on the back of an animal (such as a camel,
bison, or whale)
          c (1) : mound, hummock (2) : mountain, range the
Himalayan hump
2 British : a fit of depression or sulking
3 : a
difficult, trying, or critical phase or obstacle —often used in the
phrase over the hump

What does it mean, in this context?


texts: What is the name for evoking an answer that's a trick on the responder?

texts: Mister Mxyzptlk was a trickster who tormented Superman. Although the rules eventually changed, the only way that Superman could send Mister Mxyzptlk back to the fifth dimension was to trick him into saying his name (Mxyzptlk) backwards (Kltpzyxm - "kel-tip-zix-um"). Superman was usually successful. Tricking someone into saying something inadvertently is a common strategy of several childhood jokes. "What are the first letters of the words Iggy's cat uses paper?" "Uh, I, c, u, p." "No, you don't!" A recent question on ELU used a variation on the scheme and was promptly sent into purgatory. Is there a name for this kind of verbal trick?


texts: I'm wondering whether "Lord Jesus" in which the definite article "the" is missing is common in English? I see someone use "Lords Jesus " in a translation. For example,"Lord Jesus said, 'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.'" I thought "the Lord Jesus" is more common. and I'm wondering if "Lord Jesus" without the definite article is acceptable in English culture. Looking forward to your reply. Thank you.


texts:
I have to put this sentence in passive:

  She took a long time to write the composition, but at last she wrote it.

Trying to write this in passive, I wrote the following:

  The composition took a long time to have been written.

Does this correspond okay to the original sentence, or is there a less clumsy way to put it?


texts:
I've been googleing and ran across this little blog post. It has a bit of information stating the the & symbol was at one point the 27th letter in the alphabet.

  For years the & symbol (now known as the ampersand) was the final,
  pronounced “and” but recited with the Latin “per se,” meaning “by
  itself.” The position and pronunciation eventually ran together, with
  “X, Y, Z, and per se and” becoming “X, Y, Z, ampersand.”

I have to wonder how could a symbol be in the alphabet? My understanding is that letters represent sounds and the putting the sounds together make words. If & was a letter for the combined sound that the word "and" makes was it ever used in the spelling of a word? Something along the lines of “h&” for hand? Also, why was & in the alphabet and not other symbols like % or #?

I don't think this is a duplicate as I'm not looking for the definition of the & symbol or the story of where it came from but rather its use as a letter in the alphabet and any words that used it in their spelling. The linked blog states it was the 27th letter but gives no examples of word usage.


texts: Is it correct "Will ask more questions if needed required"?

texts:
I wrote in a mail

Hi ABC,
Thanks for providing helpful information. Will ask more questions if needed required.

Is this statement correct? Please help


texts:
We have plenty of time, don't we?
We have plenty of time, haven't we?

Which is correct - 1 or 2?

They have already sent you the invitation, didn't they?
They have already sent you the invitation, haven't they?

Which is correct - 3 or 4?

Can you explain the rule by which both are correct/one of them is correct, with practical examples where we can use 'haven't'/where we can't/where we can use both?

PS: The previous post of the similar question was a little unclear with different answers by each answerer.


texts:
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

sbj: fathers
        det: our
vrb: brought forth
        obj: nation
                det: a
                adj: new
                adj: *conceived*
                        adv: <in>
                                obj: liberty
                cnj: and
                adj: *dedicated*
                        adv: <to>
                                obj: proposition
                                        det: the
                                        adj: -that-
                                                sbj: men
                                                        det: all
                                                vrb: are created
                                                        cmp: equal
        adv: <on>
                obj: continent
                        det: this
        adv: ...?

I'm working on this but can't wrap my head around the phrase in bold. I know that it's adverbial phrase of time, but what kind of phrase is it exactly? What part of speech is 'ago'? Sources don't seem to agree.


texts:
I have been doing some research on firearms law lately, and have run across a lot of people using the phrase "conceal carry" to describe people carrying a concealed firearm. In my opinion, this should be "concealed carry", since if asked the question "how are you carrying your firearm?" I would reply, "I'm carrying it in a concealed fashion," not "I'm carrying it in a conceal fashion."

Still, am I wrong? Would it be equally correct to use the phrase "conceal carry" in some circumstances?


texts: How much punctuation is appropriate when ending a sentence with a full-sentence quotation?

texts:
When you end a sentence with a quotation that is itself a full sentence, do you use the quotation's punctuation?  The containing sentence's?  Both?  Something else?

I think this might be best illustrated with an example.  Which of the following is correct?

  John asked her "Do you have the time?"  She said yes.

or

  John asked her "Do you have the time."  She said yes.

or

  John asked her "Do you have the time?."  She said yes.

Related, but not a dupe: Is it ever acceptable for a period to come after a quote at the end of a sentence?


texts:
What is the meaning of this sentence?

  ... because believing in something will be seen by the passive nihilist as preferable to taking the risk of not believing in anything, to taking the risk of staring into the abyss – a metaphor for nihilism that appears frequently in Nietzsche’s work.

One source: Nihilism


texts: A more common word for the noun "effectuator"

texts:
I want to use the noun "effectuator" to denote an object that delivers the final effect which was produced by a whole chain of mechanisms. For example, a bullet shot out of a gun is an effectuator of a whole system of forces (person pointing the gun, the mechanics of the gun allowing it to fire bullets, etc.). However, the noun "effectuator" seems to exist in few dictionaries.

Is there a more common word for the noun "effectuator"?


texts: Which preposition(by or with) will be used?

texts:
"I am struck with flu" or "I am struck by flu"
Which is the correct sentence?


texts: What's a word/phrase for a player/seducer?

texts:
I can't seem to remember this particular word/phrase. I'm almost certain it's a two-word phrase. It specifically refers to someone who is skilled with the ladies, ie, someone who knows the tricks of the trade.

Usage:
- "Unless you're a X-Y, that's not going to work with her."

Edit :
I'm not looking for 'ladies man', 'casanova', 'womanizer' etc.
This phrase refers to someone who's more of a pro and one who is serious about his business.


texts: “that which" and "did myself the honor" - June 22nd 1798 Letter by John Marshall

texts:
Dear Sir (Source)

  Your letter to Genl Dumas was deliverd by me to his lady from whom in consequence of it I receivd during my stay in Paris the most polite & flattering attentions. She deliverd me the inclosd answer which was written in Copenhagen & forwarded to her. Having heard that Mrs Marshall is in Winchester I shall immediately set out for that place.
  Permit me Sir to acknowledge the receipt of your very polite & obliging letter in answer to that which I did myself the honor to address to you from the Hague.

1. Would someone please expound the differences between "that which" and "which"? Why not "...polite & obliging letter  in answer to which I did myself the honor ..." ?

2. Is the expression "to do the honour to someone" or "to do someone the honour" or both? Why not the other?

3. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/do+honor+to says

  I. to show respect to.
  II. to be a credit to.

Would someone please explain how "to do honour to" engenders these meanings? Is "do" a synonym of "bestow/convey/impart" here?

4. How would John Marshall be doing himself the honour to address a letter to George Washington from the Hague?


texts:
Is there a good english synonym database available in the Internet? I imagine that it should work like a translator: you enter a word and synonyms for this word are displayed.

The reason for asking this: I'm not a native English speaker but I have to write a lot of text in English. I noticed that I tend to use always the same expressions and I think it would be a good thing to for example not always use “that's why” but sometimes “therefore”.


texts: Did the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech mainly use words from Old English? If so, why?

texts:
I read today that Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech mainly used words from Old English.

Wikipedia's article states that Melvyn Bragg claimed in "The Adventure of English" that only seven words in his speech weren't from Old English.

A similar claim is made by Robert Lacey in "The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium":

  “When Winston Churchill wanted to rally the nation in 1940, it was to
  Anglo-Saxon that he turned: "We shall fight on the beaches; we shall
  fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and the
  streets; we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender." All
  these stirring words came from Old English as spoken in the year 1000,
  with the exception of the last one, surrender, a French import that
  came with the Normans in 1066

I've got two questions:

1) Is this claim true? I'm a little cautious about the claim, because it sounds like something that'd be popular with Francophobes. That one of the few exceptions (according to the claim) is "surrender" would be consistent with this. (This is a good example of anti-French sentiment, if you need one)

2) If the claim is true, and assuming that the choice of Old English was deliberate, why was this done? Did Churchill expect people to notice that he was using Old English words? Or was he expecting Old English words to produce a different emotional response than words from French?


texts:
Do "I was going to do,but something happened", "I was to do,but something happened" and "I was about to do,but something happened"have the same meaning?.I'm so confused right now.
Please give me some advices and explanations.


texts:
I always have wondered if there is any difference between these two sentences :

  I am not talking science here.

and

  I am not talking about science here.

If yes, then what is that difference?
To me, the second one seems more legitimate. Please enlighten me.


texts:
As you saw in the title, parentheses inside parentheses don't look too good. But, gramatically speaking, is it correct to do this? For example:

  Go to this site (you should probably check it out, it's great (in case you didn't already notice) and gives you great information) to find out more about the solar system.


texts: Why isn’t singular ‘they’ used with 3Sg verb forms?

texts:
There are many (duplicate) questions about the acceptance, popularity and history of singular they (and their, them and themself) around here, it even got a tag of its own. If I didn’t miss anything, however, the proper verb form hasn’t been questioned yet.

As we all know, English third person singular pronouns (it, she, he and one, +body), names (Alice, Bob, …) and nouns (student, teacher, …) demand the +(e)s suffix be added to the finite verb form in simple present, where some auxiliary verbs have a “special” form (is < *bes / *ares and has < *haves). All other subjects don’t, including plural third person pronoun they.

When the plural you replaced thou (with thee, thy / thine), the other marked verb form that had remained in English – i.e. suffix +(e)st or +t – vanished, too. The first and second persons only ever appear as pronouns (I, we; you), not names or nouns, so there was no strong inclination to keep the verbal inflection.

The second person precedent would suggest that singular they be used with uninflected verb forms which is how it’s usually encountered in the wild. Assuming that they someday replaces he and she (and maybe it) it would lead to disagreement with the words the pronoun stands in for:

  Alice         goes to her   place  by herself.
  Bob           goes to his   place  by himself.
  Alice and Bob go   to their place  by themselves. – (common)
  Alice and Bob go   to their places by themselves. – (separate)

  She  goes to her   place  by herself.
  He   goes to his   place  by himself.
  They go   to their place  by themselves.
  They go   to their places by themselves.

  They ?goes to their place  by themself.
  ditto
  They  go   to their place  by themselves.
  They  go   to their places by themselves.

  They ?go to their place  by ?themselves.
  ditto
  They  go to their place  by  themselves.
  They  go to their places by  themselves.

So why doesn’t singular they afford s on present-tense verbs like all other third person singular subjects do?

I learned about singular they only long after I had been taught English as a second language in school. That’s why it’s still a conscious decision to use it and hence I could easily adapt to use s forms with it, but would that sound and look funny / strange / wrong to native speakers?


texts:
Is there a word in English that means to prolong from the "front"?

This search was inspired by the current situation with the pandemic. Some schools and colleges in the United States have called for their spring break* to begin at an earlier date (but end at the same date as the original spring break). I would like to say spring break was prolonged (to an earlier date), but I thought prolong would give the sense that the end of spring break was "delayed" or that the word would be too awkward to used in this context.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_break


texts:
Is this phrase wrong? Shouldn't it be,

  they know naught of what they speak?


texts: Which one is correct: "bachelor's and master's degrees", or without apostrophes?

texts:
I understand that I have to use apostrophes with bachelor's degree and *master's degree. Here is a good reference https://wmich.edu/writing/rules/degrees

However, after talking with native English speaker, I'm not sure what happens when I have both degrees in the same sentence:

I know this is correct: "He earned his bachelor's degree and master's degree from ...". However, can I have a shorter form as "He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from ..."? Note the apostrophes 's and plural for degree.

Is it the same thing if the other degree is doctoral, for example "He earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from ..."


texts: A literary idiom/expression that means someone is worthless or express about this imagery ( he is not equal to stitch on the sole)

texts: I have to translate a poem from Arabic into English, so I need an equivalent expression to Arabic imagery.


texts:
I am reading The Last of the Mohicans.
A group gets lost on their way to Fort Edward.
Then they meet Hawkeye the scout, who accuses their guide of misleading them.
Hawkeye believes the guide's heritage confirms this
when he says:

  "A Huron!" repeated the sturdy scout, once more shaking his head in open
  distrust; "they are a thievish race, nor do I care by whom they are adopted;
  you can never make anything of them but skulks and vagabonds. Since you
  trusted yourself to the care of one of that nation, I only wonder that you
  have not fallen in with more."

I cannot find a definition of skull to match this usage.
A definition I've found in dictionaries that is closer to Hawkeye's intent than
the common meaning of "bone of the head" is this one from
MacMillan Dictionary:

  INFORMAL a person's head, or their mind

Especially if used in this derogatory sense cited from
CED:

  derogatory often the head regarded as the mind or intelligence:
    to have a dense skull

Hawkeye is not shy with his criticisms of this tribe.
In the above passage alone he accuses them of thievery, aimlessness, and treachery.
It is possible that by using skulls he is insulting their intelligence too.
But this argument seems weak to me, because the traps and ambushes Hawkeye fears the guide leading the group into require some sophistication to execute.

A supposition I think has more merit is that this skull is related to skulduggery,
which MW defines as

  underhanded or unscrupulous behavior; also: a devious device or trick

The skul in skulduggery
("apparently an alteration of Scottish sculdudrie 'adultery' (1713),
sculduddery 'bawdry, obscenity' (1821), a euphemism of uncertain origin")
appears to have a different etymology than the bone-related
skull
("probably from Old Norse skalli 'a bald head, skull,'...").
But I cannot find any sources to confirm the connection of Hawkeye's use of skulls to this skul.

What does Hawkeye mean by calling the tribe "skulls"?

Edit: As Leon Conrad points out below, I misquoted the Google book I cited. The correct word is skulks. (I have changed it above.) I have e-mailed the source I read from about the typo.


texts:
I have two questions regarding the Gettysburg Address.

1) Double That

  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

Actually a double that isn't a problem. I am just wondering whether "so" is omitted before them. This is how I understand this line:

  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives so that the nation might live.

I believe that should be the one that has to be omitted. I can understand what it means but it still baffles me.

2) Meaning of word "Government"

the most famous line of the address,

  that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

what does the word "government" indicate here? A governing body or political system?

I've learned that if the word "government" is used with zero-article, it means the political system of governing people while it means a government body when followed by an article.

However, I found that this rule is not always followed. I have seen articles or people saying it without the article even when they mean a government as a governing body.

Any thoughts?


texts: Is the sentence "The trace of an odd number of gamma matrices vanish." correct grammatically?

texts:
In my textbook it says:

  The trace of an odd number of gamma matrices vanish.

Should it be `vanishes' as the trace is singular?


texts: The disaster we worried about "most" or "the most"?

texts:
I heard a Ted talk say

When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a nuclear
war.

I wonder why it was not "the disaster we worried about THE most"?


texts: the to-infinitive as an adverbial(substitute of for+N?), an object, or a subject complement?

texts:
A. She is likely/sure/certain to start her new project.

She may start her new project.

Are the senses and the roles of the to inf. the same as 'start her new project' of 'may', complementing the (modal) verbs and indicating the action of the subject? Do we speak them in the same sense? If we classify the main verb of modal verbs ad the complement of the modal verbs, do we also classify the inf. above as the complements of the 'be + adj.'s? Or is the to-inf. just an object?
B. I'm dying/willing/curious/anxious/eager to eat that cake.
I'm dying/willing/curious/anxious/eager for that cake.
Do we speak the to inf.s above in the same sense as the 'for~'s? Do they mean
the same, expressing the subject's wish, desire, or plan as adverbials?
C. I hoped for some money./I hoped to take the train.
I begged for more candy./I begged to go to the movies.
I longed for an A./I long to get an A.
I volunteered for the job./I volunteered to help the kids.
I was aiming for the trophy./I was aiming to receive the trophy.
Do these to inf. express desire/intention as adverbials, same as the 'for+N's? Or, are they just objects?


texts: "When people are used to you doing something, they want you to stay in that lane"?

texts:
This is a saying from a famous NBA player, but I don't understand what he really means:

  "When people are used to you doing something, they want you to stay in
  that lane."

Could somebody help me to explain the meaning?


texts: What was slang, profanity and swearing like in the 1800's.

texts: What would surprise us about the vernacular of the common Tennessean or South Carolinian in the early 1800's? What expressions were used profanely that would seem mild or strange today? Given the lack of education and maybe sparse communities did these people use cuss and swear words similar to today's frequency?


texts: How do I express "create new if [this data] does not already exist"?

texts:
I'm programming and want to create a variable only if it does not already exist.

Is there a way to express this with a single word?

For example, if the variable already exists, I have the options

overwrite to overwrite the current value with a new value
append to append new data to existing data

I'm searching for the word to express if the data already exists, leave it alone, otherwise take the given data.


texts:
The word "proc" is used to describe an event that occurs at various intervals and seems to be a term unique to programming and gaming:

When does that event proc?
If that trigger procs it will cause [...]
This card has an ability that procs when you play [...]
When the card proc'ed/procced, it killed off all opposing creatures and won me the game.

The word does not appear in the dictionaries I checked. "Proc" is listed as an abbreviation for words like "proceeding":

proc —

procedure
proceedings
process
proclamation
proctor

But these seem completely unrelated to the usage I've noted above. So where did this term originate?


texts: How has the meaning of "politically correct" changed?

texts:
According to Etymology Online, politically correct means

  ...the political movement and phenomenon, which began in the USA, with the aim to enforce a set of ideologies and views on gender, race and other minorities. Political correctness refers to language and ideas that may cause offence to some identity groups like women and aims at giving preferential treatment to members of those social groups...

However, when I looked up political, I found

  Of, relating to, or dealing with the structure or affairs of government, politics, or the state; relating to, involving, or characteristic of politics or politicians

Furthermore, I found this use of politically correct, which seems to refer to government as well.

  This phrase goes back further than one might believe, to 1793, in fact. It was first used by the American judge Justice James Wilson in the case of Chisholm v. Georgia, and was meant to distinguish between the phrases United States and people of the United States - he believed the latter to be politically correct.

And, in 1911,

  In those days we did not so much get correct political and economic views, for there was then little teaching of sociology or political economy worthy the name...

Has the meaning of the word political changed? Why is it used when referring to certain groups? What does being politically correct really mean? Is it something about politics and laws, or does it mean to be fair, neutral, unprejudiced?


texts: What does it mean "having a bit of a fall"?

texts:
Recently I came across this sentence from a native speaker.
Looking for a correct meaning of this.


texts: What is the word to describe an explanatory person?

texts: What is the word to describe an explanatory person who likes to explain everything even though they were asked a question that could be answered simply with "Yes" or "No"?


texts: What is the term for a sentence which reads same forwards and backwards?

texts:
Please note, I'm not asking for a palindrome.  I mean to say that only the word  order is rearranged, not the actual spelling of the word.  An example might be as follows:

  First ladies rule the State and state the rule: ladies first.