texts: Limitations of 'unless' in remote conditionals

texts:
Regarding the use of unless in a remote conditional*, The Cambridge Grammar (p755) says:

Unless occurs in open conditionals and, less freely, remote ones:
[52]
...
iv I wouldn't suggest such a plan unless I thought it was feasible.
...
The implicature of the remote version, as in [iv], is that not-P is false or probably false: [iv] conveys that I do think it is feasible.

Although The Cambridge Grammar says unless "occurs less freely in a remote conditional" than in an open conditional, [52iv] is the only example in the Cambridge Grammar of unless being used in a remote conditional. Therefore, the book fails to address the limitations of unless occurring in remote conditionals.
What are the limitations?
For example, does this work?

I wouldn't have suggested such a plan unless I had thought it was feasible.

For those who are not familiar with the Cambridge Grammar terminology, a remote conditional is explained as follows:

The remote construction differs from the open in that it entertains the condition as being satisfied in a world which is potentially different from the actual world.

And the remote conditional corresponds to the second and third conditionals in traditional grammar.
EDIT
The question specifically asks about the validity of

I wouldn't have suggested such a plan unless I had thought it was feasible.

As the title suggests, however, what I'm looking for is a more general answer detailing the limitations of 'unless' in remote conditionals as only vaguely suggested by the Cambridge Grammar, than simply discussing the validity of the given example sentence.
So please don't be limited by the example sentence and feel free to add other example sentences to better answer the question, as you see fit.


texts: Why is this particular "was" in past tense?

texts:
He added that he saw himself then also as quite attuned to things and seemed more in touch with his surroundings than now, in an esoteric way, as one might be who was trying a variety of "mind expanding" offerings, a little meditation, a little "pot," a little peyote, some Eastern philosophy, etc. Source

Why is the bolded word in the past?


texts: Are there any words similar to "abnormal"?

texts: If we remove ab-, the word abnormal becomes normal, which is the opposite. Are there any other words that are similar and start with the prefix ab-?


texts: Is the word "queer" an accepted and polite word for lesbian?

texts:
I was reading an article on the promulgation of the dental dam as a means of preventing sexually transmitted disease. Article here. The author of the article Arielle Duhaime-Ross consistently refers to lesbian women as "queer women".

Up until now, it had been my understanding that this term was a pejorative and insulting to homosexuals. That it implies their choice of lifestyle to be strange and aberrant.  So, I was rather surprised to see this term being bandied about in a reasonably respectable online tech and lifestyle reporting website.

Shows like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" notwithstanding, it just didn't strike me as proper in the format.

Ms. Duhaime-Ross does not have a biography that I could find on her website. I couldn't discern if she, herself, is a lesbian and is using a preferred nomenclature. Or, if it is a term only used amongst "members of the club" similar to African American usage of the n-word.

I decided to post it here, hoping to better understand the protocol about the term.  My motivation is to be able to address people as they wish to be addressed.


texts: What is the best word to describe business travel?

texts: If my company sent me to another city to carry out some duties for the company there and return after a while (e.g., 1 week or less), then what is the best word to describe this business travel? Can I call it "mission"?


texts: Is "know the drill" used in American English as well as UK English in a daily conversation?

texts:
Some of my American friends say this is truly American expression.
And I found this comment; “Get prepared and ready for your punishment” (especially if you have already been punished before) either corporal: getting the cane for some serious misbehaviour in school pre-1980s; or for relatively minor infractions in the Army: doing 20 push-ups, or whatever is the usual/ preferred penalty of the training sergeant etc….
I could use your help.


texts: How to syllabify "very" or "merry" etc in British English?

texts:
How should words like merry or very be syllabified in British English. I learned from the answer to my first question that words that have vowels like /ʌ ɪ ʊ ɛ/ should have a consonant after that vowel. So "obsessive" is /əb.sɛs.sɪv/ (the middle syllable has a consonant after the vowel ɛ).
Below is the paragraph from that answer: Yet another theory says that the consonant following the lax vowels /ʌ ɪ ʊ ɛ/ should be ambisyllabic. 'Ambisyllabic' means that it it belongs to both the preceding and the following syllable. So according to the ambisyllabicity theory, obsessive can be syllabified as:
/əb.sɛs.sɪv/
--
But what if there is an r after the vowel ɛ in words like "merry" and "very"?
If I divide "very" into syllables as vɛr.i (because the vowel ɛ should have a consonant after it) then the first syllables ends in an r and in British English, words do not end in R sound (for example the R in "bar" is silent).
What should I do in the case I described above? How should one syllabify?
..........
"Closed. This question needs details or clarity. It is not currently accepting answers."
It is strange that this question was closed. I have provided details in my question. Could you please tell me how else can I clarify it?
Is there really no way to do the division of those words? Please consider reopening my question; I really am confused as to how to do the division of those words. Thank you so much.

Why would you need to know this?  For example, for writing music for singers:


texts:
I understand note as a verb means

notice/heed
mention/refer to
take notes (note down)

But I found it confusing when it comes to the definition 1 and 2. Let's look at the sentences below.

Please note that their valid ranges of usage were complementary. (=Please pay attention that...)
We noted that their valid ranges of usage were complementary. (=We noticed/saw/knew/undertood that..)
I wish to note that their valid ranges of usage were complementary. (=I wish to point out that...)
The professor noted in class that their valid ranges of usage were complementary. (without context, I think this sentence can be
understood as "The professor noticed that.." or "The professor
mentioned that...)

Do I understand it correctly? Shall we pay special attention to the usage of "note" to avoid the ambiguity?


texts: What is the name for the 'object' of a middle voice?

texts:
In the sentence 'John weighed the letter', the letter is the direct object of the predicate weighed.
In the sentence 'The letter was blue', blue is a predicative nominal.

In the sentence 'The letter weighed 2 oz.', what function does 2 oz. have?

I wouldn't say it is a predicative nominal, because weighed is not a linking verb.
I wouldn't say it is a direct object, because weighed, here, is used in a detransitivized  verb: this sentence has a different structure than 'John weighed the letter'.

This problem arises, in my view, because weighs appears in the middle voice here. Hence my question: what is the name for the 'object' of a middle voice?

Examples were taken from R.C. Benton, 2009: Aspect and the Biblical Hebrew, p. 162.


texts: Is "Behalves" A Proper Plural of "Behalf"?

texts:
The following sentence appears in a syllabus of a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (at page 3):

  The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Longoria’s
  family-members’ § 1983 claims. The panel held that only Longoria’s
  estate could bring a § 1983 for the violation of his Fourth Amendment
  rights; his family members had no standing to sue on their own
  behalves.

My question relates to the correctness of the word in bold faced type in that sentence. I would have written that sentence: " . . . ; no family member of Longoria had standing to sue on his or her behalf." And, I have never seen the word "behalves" used in writing as a plural of "behalf."

Is "behalves" a recognized plural of behalf in a context like the sentence quoted above?


texts: The difference between superior and upper in medical terminology

texts:
I'm studying some medical terms and one of them is "arteries of the upper limb" and another one is "superior vena cava". As I translate them, superior and upper both have the same meaning which is "above the other or higher" so I'm asking: if they are not synonynms what is the difference between them?

The same question goes for "inferior" and "lower".


texts:
Recently I have been watching What's my car worth?

One person said several times, "I like to pick nits.", as in being a nitpicker.

Do you use or have ever heard "pick nits"? It is used?


texts: How should I describe text that is inappropriate on Stack Exchange?

texts:
I'm a fairly active curator on one of the Stack Exchange sites, and I do some curation on the other sites as well. In accordance with Should 'Hi', 'thanks', taglines, and salutations be removed from posts? I remove the following phrases when I come across them in posts:

Hi, how are you doing?

Hope you're having a good day.

Thanks for the help.

Thanks in advance.

Hope this helps.

You're welcome.

and so on.
When making these edits I like to explain why in the edit message. For some time now, I have been writing "Removed salutations". One definition of the word "salutation" in Merriam-Webster is:

an expression of greeting, goodwill, or courtesy by word, gesture, or ceremony

which seems to broadly cover what I want to say. However, I don't know if it's too specific, and whether it actually covers phrases such as "Hope this helps".
I have considered something along the lines of "Removed noise/clutter", but apart from the fact that this could be construed as slightly rude (users who add these phrases are doing it in good faith, after all), this describes why I'm removing that content more than describing what the content is that I'm removing.
So I'm looking for a phrase that conveys something along the lines of:

Removed extraneous text, which is perfectly reasonable in normal discourse, but is inappropriate for the Q&A format on Stack Exchange.

I'm not looking for a single word, but I also don't want the phrase to be longer than a few words. If there's an idiom that describes this, that would be great as well.


texts: "along with the rest of us" at the end of a sentence

texts:
Considering this sentence:

They will have to adapt to it along with the rest of us.

... I feel like I want to insert a comma before "along" for emphasis. However, I think it's formally incorrect, but would be fine informally. My reasoning is that along with the rest of us is a dependent clause at the end of the sentence, and that doesn't require a comma.

Am I correct, or have I twisted myself in knots over it all?


texts: Word for prematurely calling a middle-aged person old?

texts:
My title may not completely reflect the meaning I am trying to get across.

I am writing a card for my dad (who is 58 this year) to go alongside a gift I am getting him. I know he enjoys shooting, but he is finding is harder due to a lasting injury to his left arm he sustained some time ago, so am getting him a shooting stick (specifics not really relevant).

Basically, he could take it that I am patronizing (this is the word I am unhappy about) him, and I would like to make a jokey reference to this in the card. So far I've written;

  Have a great day - I hope the present is suitable (and not too ...)

I would like to write something along the lines of patronizing or belittling, but these do not feel right to me, but I cannot think of the word I would actually like to use.

Thanks


texts:
What is the correct expression when we want to say :The Grade of someone is:

  Engineer of Applied Sciences & Information Technology.

or

  Engineer in Applied Sciences & Information Technology.


texts: How is the adverb "where" modifying the verb in this case?

texts:
This is the house where  he was murdered.

How is adverb “where” modifying the verb
“was murdered”? It doesn't seem to be behaving like an adverb.


texts: Idiomatic expression for a difficult choice

texts:
This has cropped up several times in the past couple of months, and I've been struggling to find  a fitting word to describe this phenomenon. I'll describe it:

You have two choices(no, it's not Hobson's choice). Both of them are desirable, yet both of them each have a tiny part which is most undesirable, such as a tough condition, or a demanding clause. You have difficulty deciding which one to pick.

Whenever something like that comes up, I think of the expression "Can't burn a candle at both ends", but I'm not looking for that.

I'm looking for an expression that describes a difficult choice. Any suggestions?

EDIT: It's idiomatic. I'm quite sure it is. It's an expression of some sort. And no, it isn't "dilemma"


texts: "Nothing to tell" versus "nothing to say"

texts:
There's nothing to tell.
  There's nothing to say.

Can anyone explain the difference between those two statements and give some examples on how they should be used? I think I do have a basic understanding, but I'd like to hear it from someone who knows this to the deepest roots.


texts: How do I address a query letter to a publisher?

texts:
I want to write a letter to an independent publisher. Enclosed with the letter is a partial manuscript of my book, which I want to mention. Here is the beginning of the letter I recently wrote to an agent:
Dear Ms X,
I am writing to seek representation for my ﬁrst novel, XYZ, a novel of 87,000 words; please ﬁnd enclosed the ﬁrst three chapters for your consideration, as well as a synopsis.
How to transform the above information into a decent beginning of a letter to be sent to an independent publisher? (Any tips on what else to mention in this letter is welcome.)
Here is an attempt:
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to seek a publisher for my first novel, XYZ, a novel of...
Could the above be better? It doesn't sound right...


texts:
I think there were some guilty consciences at work, there.

I guess bolded there was used as interjectionally here, but it's my first time to see this kind of usage. Is it usual to put interjectional 'there' not in front of a sentence but at the end?


texts: on pain of their lives to suffer nobody to pass out?

texts:
I faced difficulty understanding the sentence below;

(He) charged his domestics on pain of their lives to suffer nobody to pass out.

I found that the phrase "charge someone on pain of" means that they are subject to
punishment.  So I suppose it means they are subject to capital punishment (their lives), but I can't understand what's given next (to suffer nobody to pass out).

Presuming on the unshaken submission of Hippolita, he flattered himself that she would not only acquiesce with patience to a divorce, but would obey, if it was his pleasure, in endeavouring to persuade Isabella to give him her hand — but ere he could indulge his horrid hope, he reflected that Isabella was not to be found.  Coming to himself, he gave orders that every avenue to the castle should be strictly guarded, and charged his domestics on pain of their lives to suffer nobody to pass out.
The young peasant, to whom he spoke favourably, he ordered to remain in a small chamber on the stairs, in which there was a pallet-bed, and the key of which he took away himself, telling the youth he would talk with him in the morning.  Then dismissing his attendants, and bestowing a sullen kind of half-nod on Hippolita, he retired to his own chamber.


texts: Deploy into my mobile device or deploy to my mobile device?

texts:
I'm worried that "deploy into" may be wrong, but for some reason it sounds more idiomatic to me than "deploy to", specifically in this sentence:

  I'm going to deploy my apk into mobile device.

Whereas

  I'm going to deploy my apk to mobile device.

The latter sounds weird to me.

Which one is correct? Or are both wrong?

Any explanation is genuinely appreciated!


texts: "cathouse," "call house," and "sporting house" for "bordello"

texts:
All three terms appear to be euphemisms for house of prostitution and are marked as Americanisms by Robert-Collins French and English Dictionary, Ed. 1985.

cathouse being the most common one (as shown in this Ngram), I was wondering, what actually is implied by "cat"?

Is it, as stated here, because
such establishments would place a statue of a sitting cat in one
of their windows, facing outward when open
for business, and facing inward when they were closed?

Or is it on account of the now obsolete use of "cat" for "prostitute" which, according to OED, was established as
early as 1401 when the word appeared in Friar Daws Reply, a poem in
Middle English?

  Although the exact meaning of the word in this poem
  is debatable, the definition had been unquestionably cemented by 1670,
  when an early dictionary entry for "cat" followed the word with the
  phrase, "a common whore." Narkive Newsgroup Archive

  cat:

  As a term of contempt for a woman, from early 13c. Slang sense of "prostitute" is from at least c. 1400. Slang sense of "fellow, guy," is from 1920, originally in African-American vernacular; narrower sense of "jazz enthusiast" is recorded from 1931. Etymonline

Or, is it in relation to "cat" as a possible older slang word for female genitalia, sort of analogous to modern day "pussy"?

In addition, do the terms sporting house and call house, aside from being rare euphemisms for "brothel," have a somewhat antiquated feel to them, sort of like the word "saloon" might conjure up the picture of an Old West barroom?

  sporting house: bordello; a long career as a madam in a New Orleans sporting house.

  First Known Use of sporting house: 1615 M-W

  According to Wentworth & Flexner, call house originally denoted any brothel and call girl any prostitute working in a call house. (Presumably call girl was in some sense an abbreviation of call house girl.) Sense Developments

That "call house girl" sense of call girl is also supported by the Oxford Dictionary of Euphemisms, which quotes:

  A call girl or call-button girl was not originally someone whose attendance was requested over the telephone but a prostitute who lived in a call house, where men might visit or call.


texts: The use of the word "copy" instead of "text"

texts:
Is it correct to use the word copy instead of the word text in some contexts?

For example, the titles of two tasks were as follows:

  Update log out copy in the profile menu

and

  Copy for notifications

Which respectively means Update the text of the logout button and List of texts for notifications

For me, the use of the word copy here seems a bit strange and somewhat incorrect, however, I was not able to find any source on the use of copy to mean text.

Edit:
I was referred by my colleague to this link, specifically to the "written text that is to be printed, or text that is intended to help with the sale of a product" section. However, I don't personally believe this is the same use case.


texts: I wonder to know why the article "the" is taken from the beginning of the subject and put to the end of it? For example, "Butterfly effect, the" instead of "The butterfly effect".


texts:
I am struggling with choosing the suitable pronoun in the following sentence.

  He wrote other / another two letters in just 15 minutes.

My intuition tells me that in this case, ‘another’ is the pronoun that should be used–as it makes the most sense as far as the context (he has written the letters in just 15 minutes) is concerned. But, on the other hand, a friend of mine claims that either the use of ‘other’ here is correct or it is the only option by using which the sentence is grammatically correct.

The question is: are both of these pronouns grammatically and logically correct, or is there an only option? If so, which one is it?
Thank you in advance.


texts: Is there a specific expression to denote territories which were once occupied?

texts: I have to write a long History essay about territories which were once occupied by one people, but no longer are. Is there a term for that, something like once-[insertpeoplehere]-occupied?


texts: If I tell you VS if I would tell you VS if I were to tell you

texts:
I would like to know the correct grammar for a specific sentence:

  If I tell you/If I would tell you/ If I were to tell you, please promise not to think ill of me.

Which choice would count as the most grammatically correct?

Thank you!


texts: Meaning of "Post" in U.S. diplomatic cables

texts:
Does the jargon "Post" in U.S. diplomatic cables refer to the writer, the chief of mission (the same person in the cable below), the mission as a whole, or something else? Examples:

Post seeks Washington approval to proceed with the  planning
conferences for three military exercises...

Post recommends that  Washington authorize U.S. planners to move
forward with the  aforementioned exercises.

At that time, Post recommended against entertaining any Thai requests
to attend  U.S. training courses until we were better able to assess
the  interim government's progress towards restoring democracy.  Post
now recommends we be authorized to permit the Thai to  purchase U.S.
military training at their own expense.  As a  practical matter, Post
does not anticipate many Thai  participating in such a program but
views this as a low-cost  way to encourage continued positive steps in
Thailand's  return to a democratically elected government.


texts: Word/phrase to refer to things you bring to a place to stay the night?

texts:
Example:

  We are going to a trip tomorrow and staying the night in a hotel.
  Don't forget to bring your [...].

I thought about stuff but I'm looking for something less ambiguous (it can be informal).


texts:
Supplier shall also provide Purchaser without restriction full and
  accurate information regarding locations, contact names, and numbers
  for any known occurrences of infringement upon Supplier Intellectual
  Property by any suppliers or vendors of goods or Components for the
  Products, as well as finished or semi-finished Products worldwide
  immediately upon learning of such infringements.

in the above sentence,is "numbers" also for "finished or semi-finished Products worldwide immediately upon learning of such infringements."namely,
"Supplier shall also provide Purchaser without restriction full and accurate information regarding numbers  for any known occurrences of infringement finished or semi-finished Products worldwide immediately upon learning of such infringements"

OR:

"Supplier shall also provide Purchaser without restriction full and accurate information regarding finished or semi-finished Products worldwide immediately upon learning of such infringements"

right?

thanks.


texts: Why does using "women" as a modifier work but "men" doesn't?

texts:
Chrome's home page tab link for Womens History Month caught my eye today:

Celebrating women history makers, pioneers and future leaders

Why does this work, if it actually does, and why doesn't the gender inverse work? "Celebrating men history makers" is plain odd to my ear. Is there an implied "who are" in there that's not obvious?
I recognize that using "female" as a noun to refer to a woman can sound disrespectful, but when used as a modifier it seems like a different situation. "Celebrating female history makers" sounds much more appropriate.


texts: What is the grammatical analysis of the sign "Road closed to through traffic", specifically the prepositions "to through"?


texts:
I'm looking for the nominalization of the adjective "critical". Basically, a noun synonymous with the following:

  The extent to which a particular issue or item is critical or vital

Any ideas?
Thanks


texts: What does it mean by latest appointment? Does it mean earliest or last?

texts:
When someone says:

  'What's the latest appointment available today?'

Does it mean last appointment available today OR first available appointment today after time now?

I was under the impression that it means last available appointment but someone told me it means first available appointment after time now.


texts:
My worries turned to none.

  My worries turned to nothing.

Are both these sentences stated correctly? I think the first one might be wrong due to the definitions of none, but it doesn't sound too bad to me. I mean, I get the idea it is trying to address, however the second sentence does appear to sound more solid to me.

I tried replacing "turned to" with "became" to see how that would sound, but still I cannot deduce anything else from that.

Do both the sentences make sense? If so, does one make sense more than the other (if that makes sense)?


texts:
Could please anyone explain why contrast is followed by in, not with or to in this sentence from Cambridge Dictionary?

We use actually to indicate a new topic of conversation or a change
or contrast in what is being talked about.


texts:
What is the meaning of "you seem pretty cool yourself"?
I don't understand the "yourself" in this context.
Is this ironic and means that I find myself being cool?

Regards
Klaus


texts: Do you know if he didn't go to the party? Is this question correct?

texts:
I was wondering if this question is correct or not? and if not, why not?

  Do you know if he didn't go to the party?

It sounds kind of strange. I feel

  'Do you know if he went to the party?'

is better... but i'm not sure why.

Can anyone help me?


texts: "Ability of [gerund]" vs. "ability to [infinitive]"

texts:
I want to say one of the following:

  For them, ability of speaking is worthless since all the them are great speakers.
  For them, ability to speak is worthless since all of them are great speakers.

Which one is more natural to a native speaker?


texts: Where does the term "cold calling" originate from?

texts:
Did it exist before The Telephone - has it always been associated with 'sales'?

Here is an example.


texts: Tennis jargon: why are some matches "not before" a given time instead of just "after" that time?

texts:
I've recently started to follow Tennis matches and championships more closely. Now I often hear schedules mention that a match will occurr not before a given time of day. That sounds odd to me. Below is an example:

Novak Djokovich vs. Roger Federer - 6PM
Rafael Nadal vs. Gustavo Kuirten - not before 8PM

I understand that by not before 8pm, the organizers mean that the match will start at 8PM sharp, or after that, if the previous match taking place on the same court takes longer than expected.
In this context, would it be semantically equivalent to use the expression "after" instead of "not before"?
In that case we would have:

Novak Djokovich vs. Roger Federer - 6PM
Rafael Nadal vs. Gustavo Kuirten - after 8PM

Wouldn't it be more direct and preferrable to just use the word after? The only difference I see between the expressions is that the word after excludes 8PM sharp, but to me that wouldn't be enough a difference to warrant the use of a more complex expression just for Tennis matches.
Finally, a question that may not be for this community, but rather for the Tennis enthusiasts: why don't they just simplify things and say "after 8PM"?


texts: What’s the word to describe that I ——— your artwork?

texts:
When I see a famous writer, I will say, “Hi, I read your book” (or “have read”?).
When I see a movie star, I will say, “Hey, I watched your movie" (or “have watched”?).
So, when I see a artist, what’s the word in: “Hi, I ——— your artwork”?
(Maybe it’s a photo, or a painting or a sculpture.)


texts:
What is the meaning of "I would there were", as in this quote from Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale"?

  I would there were no age between sixteen and three-and-twenty, or
  that youth would sleep out the rest;

From its context, I assume it means "I wish there were" but I find it difficult to conceive how the modern usage of "would" could ever have been used in this way.


texts: Why does "raptor" not contain an apostrophe?

texts: Why is the word raptor not written as 'raptor when used as the abbreviated name for velociraptor?


texts:
I am looking for words that convey the following meaning.
Deconstructing a system in a detailed and organized manner (it's not a destruction) in order to understand its internals (how it works) and then being able to reconstruct it.


texts: Term for someone receiving pastoral care

texts:
I'm currently writing a manual on pastoral care in a Church community.

In our cultural context, we use the term "pastor" not only for the traditional role of a community leader but also for anyone providing pastoral care - this works well and is an established part of our vocabulary.

Where I'm struggling is in finding a good word to describe the person receiving the care. Simply using "person" is a little unclear in many contexts (as you may imagine, many point of the manual will involve the person receiving pastoral care and a number of others). Being overly etymological and going back to the root meanings, I'd be left with terms involving sheep and flocks, all of which sound impersonal and condescending when applied to an individual. I'd like to avoid adjectival phrases like "person receiving care" or similar.

We've used the term "pastee" in jest for a number of years (for trans-Atlantic readers, this is funny because a "pasty" is also a delicious foodstuff) but if I have to resort to using it in the manual then it will need a little explanation!

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

TL; DR

Can you suggest a noun meaning "person receiving pastoral care" that isn't:
 1. Clumsy
 2. Condescending


texts: "... is about to ..." vs. "... is going to ..."

texts:
I found that is about to is used in the following sentence of the news article titled “Tech belt sees hiring surge” in The Boston Globe.

  “The company is about to go on a hiring spree, from four
  employees to as many as 15, according to Andrew Joseph, its
  cofounder.”

Why has the journalist used is about to rather than is going to (“The company is going to go [...] )”? Is it grammatical is about to when that is referred to an inanimate subject (in the sentence above 'the company').


texts: What's different between "sophisticated" and "intricate"?

texts: I know this is probably a very simple question, but it seems to me that I see "sophisticated" more in specialized books, and "intricate" more in non-specialized books.  What's the difference?


texts: Should it be for example "product prices" or "products prices"

texts:
I don't know what are the correct terms for this question. Which form is correct for cases of multiple plural nouns, both should be plural or only the second one, for example:

  product prices

or

  products prices

or even maybe:

  products' prices


texts:
What is the word for an image and/or phrase that might be painted or hung on the main wall of an organization's lobby? Not their "logo" but a deeper, more complex, more internal symbol. That's representative of the organization's identity to its members.
I'm thinking of the words "masthead" and "motto" as possible choices.


texts: Is there a term for "genocide" of the elderly?

texts:
The word infanticide means:

  killing of babies: the practice of killing newborn babies

Is there an equivalent term for killing the elderly?


texts: Difference between 'meant by' and 'meant with'?

texts:
Is there a difference in meaning or usage between 'meant by' and 'meant with'?

Many questions about meanings with this tag have the wording 'What is meant by...?'.

In the text I am currently reading the verb 'to mean' is always combined with the preposition 'with', when discussing words or passages in the Bible. I mention this because I wonder whether it might be relevant that 'meant with' is used in a linguistic context. Here are two examples:

  With ‘new spirit’ the same must be meant as with ‘my spirit’ in clause e.
  The suggestion made by several commentators that the doom of Judea’s downfall is meant with the ‘first things’ that should no longer be remembered takes too little account of the poem’s own concentric structure.

The translator of the Dutch original is an English native speaker coming from South Africa, perhaps that might have something to do with this usage?

Afterthought: now that I infer from the comments that 'meant with' sounds strange
to English speakers, could it be a Germanism? ('Was ist gemeint mit...')? I


texts: what is the terminology that describe the rate of user access over order in the context of e-commerce

texts:
assume I have an e-commerce website.

let num_user denote how many user access my website in a day,

let num_order denote and how many of them make an order in that day.

the question is, what is the terminology describe the rate num_order/num_user?


texts:
What is it called when someone who is not the author is mentioned on the paper as one of the authors?

Some postgraduate students have to put the name of their professors on their papers as one of the authors, with no substantial work being done by the mofo professors. That is so corrupt!

Some other researchers corruptly exchange authorship. That is, A in his paper corruptly mentions B's name next to his own name, providing that B does the same.

Is there any word/phrase for such a research corrupt? I came across "fake authorship" or "fake co-authorship" on the Internet. Is that the right name for it? Or there is a spacial word/phrase for it?


texts: What gets modified? Confusions with "only" (basic categorical logic)

texts:
While learning basic categorical logic, I came across the following sentences:

"All kitchens are places for eating"
"All kitchens are only places for eating"
"All kitchens are places only for eating"

What difference in meaning, if any, do 2) and 3) have?


texts:
A general definition of leadership is that it shows the way for others
  either by example or by advocacy. Crucially, this definition is
  sufficiently general that it does not entail being in charge of those
  who follow.

that it does not entail being in charge of those who follow.

How could this that-clause come out in this sentence? For example, because "so or such" can be followed by that-clause, I know why that-clause appears after so or such. But how could the above sentence have "that-clause"?


texts: Comprehension - gave them the run of the base grounds still in Ukrainian hands

texts:
During the ordeal, the colonel gave reporters and TV crews the run of the base grounds still in Ukrainian hands, and held impromptu news conferences in front of brigade headquarters.

First of all, what does the run of the base grounds mean? Break it down for me as far as each word in the phrase goes, please. Secondly, do I understand that line correctly if I change it a little bit by adding some words that help me tie things together to make the connection more obvious: the run of the base grounds THAT WERE still in Ukrainian hands?


texts: Are there any exceptions to the rule stipulating that the article "a" be used (rather than "an") if the following word begins with a consonant?

texts:
I know that we should use "an" instead of "a" if the next word (such as a noun) is a vowel.

But I'd like to know if there is an exception to this? One example:

How to install an SSL certificate.

Is the above example incorrect or is an exception? To me, it just sounds right but I don't know if it's correct.


texts: Better word for the "source" of a remix?

texts:
For "remix" in the general sense, e.g. "everything is a remix".

Is there a better word than "source" for describing the thing that got remixed? ("Source" is just ambiguous in many contexts.)

Thanks!

Edit: "original" also has the connotation of the most upstream. If C is a remix of B, which was a remix of A, what would you call B w.r.t. C?


texts:
The idiom "chink in one's armor" refers to an area of vulnerability Wikipedia

Unfortunately, while a 'chink' can be a weakness, in recent times it has become a derogatory statement. This makes the phrase "chink in ones armor", or extended versions ambiguous in meaning.

  “Chinks in special ops’ digital and physical armor poses challenges, experts say.”

Additionally, I've seen references to talking about the chinks in a plan or legal defense, where the intent is to compare these to actual armor.

In context it can be use innocuously, such as the US Army talking about actual weaknesses in its special forces armor, or in a more questionable way when referring to an Asian basketballer as a weakness on a team.

This leads to the potential of a double meaning of a statement, so having an alternate single-word would be useful, especially when talking about weakness in other things.

Alternatives such as "Achilles heel" seem to long and are hard to ease into speech, "weakness" has too broad a meaning, a "flaw" seems to imply a failure in design rather than a more passive term, and "spanner in the works" implies sabotage.


texts:
I want to convey "Something is important. But it is hard to achieve". Can I use "yet" as in the following sentence?

  It is an important yet non-trivial task.

Also, can I use "yet" to connect sentences with opposite meanings? For example,

  This book is very well-written, yet few people know about it.


texts: What are English idioms for "you have to pay a very high price to get the thing that you want"?


texts: Does “Make for the hills” still hold currency as an idiom?

texts:
I found the phrase “make for the hills” in the following sentence of the article titled “The Hex on Paul Ryan” in New York Times Sept 3 issue:

“The best morsel of political advice I can offer? If you catch even the faintest whisper that you might be nominated for the vice presidency, ‘make for the hills.’ Run as fast as Paul Ryan pretends to. Your reputation depends on it. Maybe your sanity, too."

I first thought “make for the hills” is a popular, everyday-use idiom meaning ‘to head (challenge) for the high hills (goals),’ but when I checked online English Dictionaries to make sure of it, I found none of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster English dictionary registers either of ‘make for hills’ or ‘head for the hills”

On the other hand, Google Ngram registers both “make for the hills’” and “head for the hills,” showing the trend of the usage of the former almost extinct being replaced around 1950 by “head for the hills,” which emerged as an synonym for “make for the hills’” around 1920.

I wonder whether “Make for the hills” is still a current English idiom that I can tell young people “You should ‘make for the hills’ in order to achieve your dream,” or it is better for me to use other straightforward expressions.

My first impression of ‘the hills’ here was ‘the goals for you to achieve, the obstacles that you have to conquer.’ Am I wrong?


texts: How do describe "each day", "once a week" or "every second year"?

texts:
I want to describe a repetition for an event.

A single event can have multiple repetitions because it can occur e.g. every second week (a regular happening) + once a year (special annual occasion).

So each repetition has its own:

start date and time
end date and time
exclusion - list of dates when an event is skipped (holidays etc.)
something like "day/month/year/..."
something like "second, third, ..."

I'm thinking about which is the best to describe the properties of a repetition:

I know that for "weekly/monthly/yearly/..." I should choose frequency.

I wonder if for "every X" I can use interval or maybe period?

So far, I found two related topics:

Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, once (?)
What is the collective term for "Daily", "Weekly", "Monthly" and "Yearly"?


texts: When was the term "Web site" (or "website") first used?

texts:
I've been researching the origins of the World Wide Web, so basically sifting through CERN reports and Usenet posts from 1989-1993, but I've noticed that the terms "Web site," "website," "web-site," and "web site" appear nowhere.

I've tried Google ngrams, but receive way too many false positives (i.e. links from updated editions and the like). The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the first use of the term "website" was 1994. Random House Dictionary states that it was coined between 1990 and 1995. Oxford English Dictionary lists the first use in a 1993 issue of "Computer Shopper" as "WEB site" and in a 1994 issue of "Macworld" as "Web-site." Merriam-Webster puts the first use as 1992, but without citation.

So what gives exactly? Is there a precise origin here at all?

(My apologies if this is the wrong Stack to post this on, I will remove if it is indicated as such; thanks so much!)


texts: How can I reword "cross-gender" so it doesn't sound like I'm talking about transgenders?

texts:
This research has been focused on cross-national and cross-gender applications of such theories.

The use of "cross-gender" means across genders, in the same way that "cross-national" means across nations. However, my concern is that readers will think I mean "transgender." How can I revise this sentence to avoid such confusion?


texts: Word or phrase describing a popular research topic not yielding results

texts: I am looking for a word or phrase describing a research topic that many scientists and researchers are working on, but not finding any fundamental results. For example, deep learning right now.


texts: What do you call a person who doesn't get offended?

texts: I am looking for a word to describe a person who never really gets offended. Can it be described in one word?


texts:
I was reading an article but I don't quite understand the part made bold:

  In accordance with the ideals of  Kemalism expressed above, education
  or school  emerged as the most efficient apparatus of the state,  as
  Louis Althusser would have said, from which to  gain the forthcoming
  desirable nation

Could you please explain what that might mean. Actually I am stuck at "from which to gain" part.


texts: Is there any other word for "thumbs up thumbs down"?

texts:
I am working on my college project, which is a kind of product review/feedback website. In this many users can give their comments and opinion, and like or dislike the product.
I'm very confused what name I should give to my site. I was thinking about blabbermouth, popinjay, or loudmouth; but they do not sound interesting. Is there any one word for "Thumbs up and thumbs down"?


texts: How did 'subsume' evolve from the Latin for 'take + under'?

texts:
What's an intuitive derivation behind ODO's definition  that helps to remember its meaning?

  subsume = [with object]
  Include or absorb (something) in something else:

  Etymonline: 1530s, from Modern Latin subsumere "to take under," from Latin sub  "under" (see sub-) + sumere "to take" (see exempt (adj.)).


texts: Expression / idiom / slogan to say you will be in advance of the others in global competition

texts:
Is there an expression/idiom/slogan to say :

  "thanks to us you will be in advance of the others (in technology/business)".

I was thinking of "Be ahead of" or "Get ahead of", but i don't know which words using after :

Be/Get ahead of the World
Be/Get ahead of the Game
Be/Get ahead of the Curves
Be/Get ahead of the Competition

Edit : Is there a difference using "Get ahead of" instead of "Be ahead of" ?


texts: Singular word to mean "both of your hands" or "all of your fingers"

texts: I'm looking for a singular word (not plural) that can be used to represent both of a person's hands (or all fingers and/or toes).  Does such a word exist?


texts:
Is the usage of "though" in the following sentence correct?

  It's said that it is a picture of a rabbit, but I'm sure enough that what I see is, though, a fish.

Don't mind the contents. What I want to ask is whether I can use "though" that way or not. If not, why?


texts: Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?

texts: TLA is an acronym for "Three Letter Acronym". Is it also an abbreviation, since it abbreviates the original phrase?


texts:
If I am referring to a specific country's constitution, but not to America's, should the word 'constitution' be capitalised or not?

Edit:
I think that giving an example would help make my question more clear.

"In China's 1978 Constitution, we can see that..."

I have seen 'constitution' capitalised often when referring to America's constitution. In this case, however, I do not want to refer to the American constitution, so my question is: should I or should I not capitalise 'constitution' here?


texts:
I need to translate baja financiera (Spanish) or baixa financeira (Portuguese) into English. That idiom is a noun phrase used to describe a partial or total payment of a purchase or sale.

I'll give an usage example of that idiom. If a client uses multiple payment methods (money, check, debit, credit), every baja/baixa consists of a paid amount and a payment method. If a client pays in multiple installments, every time an installment is paid a baja/baixa is done.

There's a related idiom dar de baja (Spanish) or dar baixa (Portuguese). That idiom is a verb phrase used to describe the action of registering a partial or total payment of a purchase or sale.

I found an English translation for the second idiom: write off. That translation is a verb, but I need a noun to translate the first idiom. I found the option financial low, but I don't know if that idiom has the meaning I expect.


texts: What is the meaning of a adage and a proverb.It is really confusing.I am just wondering the meanings of both of them.


texts: Are they grown in an orchard, or a grove? Is there another, more nut-specific term? I ask out of pure curiosity.


texts: What are the rules behind stock-market expressions like "I'm short X" "Steve is long Y"?

texts: Reading through The Big Short (or any other stock-market related material), you'll find such expressions as "I am short Microsoft" or "We are long this trade". What is the rule behind such expressions? Are there any other uses of similar structures outside of the stock-market context?


texts:
"An atom 'is to' become a positive ion when it has more protons than electrons."
Is it proper for "is to" to be in that sentence? If it is, would someone please tell me what does "is to" mean in that sentence?
I wrote it, it's the answer for the question "How does an atom become a positive ion?".


texts: Better way to express "X and [A and B] Y" than "X as well as A and B Y"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Overusing “and” and how to fix it

I often need to express something along the lines of X and Y, where Y is two things, e.g.

  Cindy owns a boat and [both red and blue] cars.

Using "and" in both places is somewhat ambiguous, so I often resort to "as well as":

  Cindy owns a boat as well as both red and blue cars.

This feels too wordy, and it sounds awkward if I start to use it too frequently. Is there a better solution?

EDIT:

This example may be too simple. Here's a more complex example (from my comment below) where the adjectives are only applicable to one of the two nouns and there's more than two adjectives:

  Last summer, Joe learned about computer programming as well as Indian, Chinese, Russian and Irish culture.


texts: What does it mean to "have an air of importance"?

texts:
What does the phrase in bold mean? This is given in the book "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens. The sentence:

  He was quite bald. His clothes were shabby but he had an air of great importance. His name was Mr Micawber.


texts: What is the origin of the word "stamina"?

texts: What is the origin of the word stamina, used in sentences like "he has a lot of stamina"?


texts: I'm using three questions in a list inside quotation marks, would I separate with a comma, semicolon, or nothing? Are the question marks even needed?

texts:
A sentence with a list of questions inside quotation marks, how do I separate them? I can't find a solid answer anywhere.

Option 1:
In simple terms, Naikan is based on three questions: “What have I received?” “What have I given?” and “What troubles and difficulties have I caused?”

Option 2:
In simple terms, Naikan is based on three questions: “What have I received?”; “What have I given?”; and “What troubles and difficulties have I caused?”.

Option 3:
In simple terms, Naikan is based on three questions: “What have I received?”, “What have I given?”, and “What troubles and difficulties have I caused?”.

Or would it be no question mark at all?
In simple terms, Naikan is based on three questions: “What have I received”, “What have I given”, and “What troubles and difficulties have I caused."

The quotation marks have to be in it.


texts:
I recently learnt the the past form of "choose" is a rarely used word in English. (So is "chosen" used in present perfect.) So instead of saying:

"I finally chose the dress for the party"
"I didn't choose appetizer from the menu because my wife chose it for me."
"I haven't chosen the dish yet"
"You didn't choose the right job for you"
"I haven't chosen the place for my vacation yet"

More natural would be:

"haven't decided on the appetizer"
"decide where to go on vacation"

Or are there some other options? What would be most natural way to say those sentences? Do you use the verb "chose" often?


texts:
The following is a sentence from an article I was reading:

  But the problem is that, after the Trump Administration wasted the
  time that was available to prepare for the pandemic’s spread, by
  instituting widespread testing and creating additional hospital
  facilities, today’s Draconian measures are both necessary and probably
  insufficient.

(Source: In the Midst of the Coronavirus Crisis, We Must Start Envisioning the Future Now)

My question is why the author put a comma before “by”. Is it used here to avoid confusion because with a comma, it means that “instituting widespread testing and creating additional hospital facilities” are how the time was being wasted, but without a comma, they could be interpreted as the ways to “prepare for the pandemic’s spread”? Or is it used just to put a pause in the parenthetical element, because otherwise it would be too long?

Thanks for any help you can offer.


texts: Difference between Purchase and Procurement

texts:
I found many people use "Purchase" and "Procurement" interchangeably.

Are they same?

If "No" then what are the differences between them and can you please provide two different examples to show where to use what.


texts: Alternative (short) way of saying “a three-pronged approach to X”

texts:
I rather like this construct, as exemplified by “a three-pronged approach to physical therapy” (or four-pronged, or whatever). However, I tend to use it too much, and I am wondering how I could replace it by other short constructs with the same meaning. So, I wonder:

Does “a three-fold approach to…” have the same meaning? I think it does, as my dictionary says of the -fold suffix: “consisting of so many parts or facets”.
Do you know other ways to express this in only two or three words? It being a short adjectival phrase is useful to me.


texts:
Is it correct to say, "I don't feel to trust him," particularly in British English?

I'm actually a native speaker, but I live in Italy with my Italian wife, and so I've got so used to her (English language) mistakes, that sometimes I don't even know if they're mistakes or not.

In any case, this is something my wife says, but it doesn't sound quite natural to me, but I'm just not sure any more.

Is there a more natural way of saying it (in British English, or other dialects)?


texts:
What do each of them mean exactly? Is either (or both) the opposite of "progress"?
Could someone please explain the difference?

To add some context:

When I look up the definitions I see the definition for regress is "to return to a previous, usually worse or less developed state", whereas the definition for retrogress is "to go back to an earlier, esp worse, condition".

They both look the same to me: antonyms of "progress".
But when I used the term "retrogress" at one point someone corrected me to use the word "regress", and I didn't understand what the difference is... so now I'm confused at how the two are different, and when to use which.


texts: Lately I have been listening to a local morning show, the sports analyst for this show, when referring to "Runs Batted In", always says (Rs - B - I) instead of (R - B - Is). I shudder every time I hear this because it just doesn't sound correct. What is the proper way to say this and why?


texts: Relative pronouns "where" and "when": where can they be omitted?

texts:
I know the "omitting-rules" regarding the relative pronouns who/which/that and whose. How does it work with where and when? In the first sentence I cannot omit where but I can easily omit when in the second sentence. What is the rule?

I saw John in the shop where you bought your brown T-shirt.
I met Laura on the day (when) I missed the train to Barcelona.


texts: Is it alright to use lowercase "i" or should you always use "I" (uppercase)?

texts:
I frequently edit questions on StackOverflow, and I always fix the "i" into "I".
See this edit revision for instance.

  When i I start my tomcat, i I am getting this problem.
  How could i I resolve this problem.

Am I right to do so?

Benjol points out an interesting thread illustrating that debate:

the MetaSO question "Can users please refrain from making minor edits to a question I post?" (and its edits):

  The point of text on a site like this is to communicate.
  Why do you want  to make it harder to communicate than it has to be?
  You may like writing with no capitalization, but I think it's pretty clear that people prefer reading with capitalization.
  If you don't care about making life easier for those trying to help you, why do you think anyone will bother helping you in the first place?

The article "Capitalize, please" also refers to norms.

  Readers of the modern English language have grown accustomed to certain norms. Paragraphs, for one. Punctuation. Consistent spelling. And, of course, capitalization.


texts: Two different comparisons ("more ... than" and "same ... as") in one sentence

texts:
Consider two tasks named A and B with the following properties:

Task A requires more effort than task B.
Task A yields as much reward as task B.

I want to say both statements in one sentence. Which of the following are correct? Which one's the best?

Task A requires more effort than task B and yields the same reward as task B.
Task A requires more effort than and yields the same reward as task B.
Task A requires more effort and yields the same reward as task B.

Basically I want to avoid 1. and I am not sure whether 2. or 3. are correct, if any.


texts: Use of conjuncts in formal communication via email, letters etc

texts:
How much should we use the conjuncts (words like besides, however, nevertheless, otherwise, so, therefore, still, yet, though) in formally communicating via email, verbally etc?

Any suggestions in what kind of communications we should lessen their use? I just want to know more about them.


texts: Word for a ‘vignette’ on a specific topic within a book

texts:
I have a very strong, nagging suspicion that there is a specific term for what I am thinking of here, but I cannot for the life of me recall it.

In books, it is fairly common to see brief—or sometimes not so brief—bits of text (and sometimes illustrations) explaining or dealing in more detail with some point or notion mentioned in the main text, or giving factoids or tidbits about something that relates to the topic in the main text. These are frequently set off graphically from the rest of the text by being placed in a box, having a different background colour, being set in a different typeface, etc. They normally have their own, individual headers (often also in a different style from the regular headers in the copy), which show what it is in the copy they relate to.

I’m currently editing a book which is full of these, many of them being an entire page or spread set apart from the main flow of the text to talk about an interesting aside. The authors of the book have, quite unimaginatively, simply called them boxed texts in the manuscript, which seems to me a terrible cop-out.

What are these ‘boxed asides’ called?

I keep wanting to call them vignettes, but I don’t think that’s right—no dictionary I can find includes this meaning. Please tell me my mind isn’t playing tricks on me, and that there is an actual, proper (preferably single-word) term for them.

Edit:

After scouring the books in the office, I managed to find one that uses these things: our old edition of Politiken’s etymological dictionary of Danish uses them to give more details about individual words (in some cases) and groups of related words. Some are just text, some are illustrated, usually with maps or family trees. Here is a scan of a spread that has two of them:

The boxes have a faint, grey gradient background which didn’t come through very well in the scanned file, so I’ve added a nice, pink box around each of them to illustrate. As you can perhaps tell, they each relate to content that is on the page (the words knæsætte and ko, respectively), but as ‘boxes’ they are set apart from the text.

The boxes in this book—given its nature—are quite straightforward info boxes, but I do believe there is a term for the structural element that is function-agnostic… or at least I hope there is. In the book I’m currently editing, they are generally not info boxes, but contain anecdotes, personal letters, brief histories of companies or people or places, etc.


texts:
I'm reading chemistry book and have found this sentence which I could not understand even though I know the meaning of oxidize which means to combine with oxygen and the meaning of eliminate which means completely get rid of something according to Longman Dictionary.
The thing I'm wondering about is  ( alcohol undergoes oxidation to other compounds that are eliminated by the body. ). so there are compounds which our body eliminate and alcohol  is one of them and our body eliminate it by oxidation . is that right

This is the text:

  Sarah determines that the victim was
  poisoned when she ingested ethylene glycol placed in an
  alcoholic beverage. Since the initial symptoms of ethylene
  glycol poisoning are similar to being intoxicated, the victim
  was unaware of the poisoning.
  The alcohol in beverages undergoes oxidation
  reactions to other compounds that are eliminated
  by the body. When ethylene glycol is oxidized,
  the products can cause renal failure and may be
  toxic to the body.


texts: What does the phrase "utterly McKinley" mean?

texts:
In a spoken introduction from a live recoding made in Pasadena, CA, in 1956, on the album Round About Midnight by Miles Davis, the MC Gene Norman is heard saying:

A little bit unlikely that so much fine jazz should happen in Pasadena
perhaps — I've heard Pasadena referred to as "utterly McKinley"

The audience laugh at this point, so it was evidently funny at the time/location.
I've tried researching the phrase, but can't find anything reliable. I guess it might rely on some context that I don't have.
You can hear it in context on Spotify.


texts: Is it just me, or is the letter "i" pronounced differently in the words die and dice?  In die, it sounds like the regular long I sound (ay), but in the word dice, it sounds closer to something like "əy" with a short schwa sound.


texts:
In the book which I use to prepare for the IELTS exam they have the following sentence:

  The situation remained unchanged for the next two years until more universities were opened.

I do not understand why remained, not had remained is correct.

First happened the situation and only then the universities...


texts: Word or phrase to describe someone who served in the military, didn’t see much real action yet exaggerates their expertise?

texts:
NOTE: As I state near the end of the question I am looking for a word or phrase that would specifically describe this kind of self-dellusion on the part of someone who served in military service. So generic phrases such as “delusional,” “wing nut,” “blow hard” or “self-aggrandizing” that do not in some way connect to the world of the military won’t cut it.

Okay, this is not a question hinged on disrespecting anyone who has served in military service. I have the utmost respect for anyone who would sacrifice their life for military service.

But over the years I have met some—no better way to describe this—self-congratulatory blowhards who have never served in an active combat capacity or even saw combat at all in their role in the military, yet when the topic of anything military service comes up they either yammer incessantly about how it “really is” when in reality many of these service personnel simply served in a field/clerical role and barely understood what it “really was” to begin with.

For example, if a news report on TV came up about an attack somewhere, this type of person would start talking about what “they would do” and do so without anyone around them asking—or even caring—for their opinion. And if anyone asks them to turn it down a notch, they still talk as if their service earned them the right to lecture others anytime, anywhere for any reason.

So what is the way to describe someone who served in a non-critical/non-combat role in the military yet implies/asserts more knowledge than they had/have in the civilian world?

The only word/phrase I can think of is “mall cop” but that is highly specific to the world of actual mall security guards. And words like “delusional” or “wing nut” are too broad. I am looking for a word or phrase that would specifically describe this kind of self-dellusion on the part of someone who served in military service.


texts:
Had there been food, love-making and fighting would have gone on apace, and the pack-formation would have been broken up.

Upon first reading this sentence from White Fang, my intuition was to interpret the initial comma as indicating the beginning of a list, (and thus I interpreted lovemaking and fighting as the 2nd and 3rd items respectively). However after reading "fighting" I was met with "would have gone on apace", and thus had to double back to the beginning and then correctly interpret the initial comma as indicating the separation between a subordinate and independent clause.
Thus, should I observe the latter rule with a higher priority than the former, hereon? Then in all future sentences I would read the sentence as if the latter rule was the case, and if I found it did not work within the sentence I would then restart observing  the rule with the 2nd highest priority and repeating the process until I had correctly interpreted the sentence.
Are there lists available showing comma grammar rules or grammar rules in general along with their frequency of appearance/manifestation, and their being prioritised in an order reflecting highest frequency to lowest? Should I then train my intuition to reflect these prioritisations? Is there any literature that discusses the potential trade-offs in prioritising grammatical understanding over the minimisation of repeated readings? Did English grammar rules evolve with the latter in mind?


texts: Meaning of "A man has as many masters as he has vices."

texts:
What does this saying mean? It was said by Augustine of Hippo, but I do not exactly understand it. Thanks.

  A man has as many masters as he has vices.


texts: Technical term for the Noun version of an Adjective and vice versa?

texts:
Given (as an example) an adjective form "liable" and the noun form "liability" what is the technical term (if any) that describes the relationships mapping one to the other?

Here are some other examples:

available (j) & availability (n)
red (j) & redness (n)
culpable (j) & culpability (n)

The closest thing I could find was "derivationally related form" or "derivation", but I'd like to know the more specific way to describe the adj<-->noun relationships.


texts: we come across so many noteworthy thoughts *to point out*. What's wrong with this sentence?

texts:
I have a feeling that something is wrong with this sentence but don't know it's grammatical reason. Can you help me with it?

In reviewing Sylvia Plath`s short poem Mirror, we come across so many noteworthy thoughts to point out, but one of the most eye-catching   facets  one may want to underscore is...


texts:
I'm developing a website, working on the various text which will be shown to the user.

I currently have this sentence:

  Would you like us to remember you next time you visit?

I feel this may be too much 'write what you speak' - is this the correct way to phrase it, or is there a better way?


texts: What is the right way to say “Nobody like (likes) doing something”? What word I should use: like or likes?


texts:
Can someone please explain the grammar rule that governs these three sentences, especially the last. Why is a comma required after the word 'Indeed' in the last sentence?

  This is indeed a great piece of news.

  This is, indeed, a great piece of news.

  Indeed, this is a great piece of news, [comma required by placement]


texts:
What does out mean in this passage?

  And it’s no accident that this selection of the best poems from three decades begins with the word “between,” for Heaney was a poet of the in-between (as his friend Helen Vendler has observed), writing from a zone somewhere between north and south, between Catholic and Protestant, between Ireland, England, and America, between formal and free verse, between public and private, between realism and allegory, and between plain speech and loading “every rift with ore,” while also balancing the gravitas of his subject matter with the frolic and grace of poetic language. As Heaney said, “The point is to fly under or out and beyond those radar systems.”

It is easy to understand "fly under the radar" and "fly beyond the radar"; but "fly out the radar" is ambiguous? Does it mean to circumvent the radar or what?


texts:
Consider the sentence:

  I saw her cry.

Why is it, then, that we can't say:

  I saw her be crying.

And instead say:

  I saw her crying.

?

Why is the second sentence infelicitous?


texts: Pronoun : Antecedent :: Abbreviation : ___________ ? I.e., is there a name for the corresponding word/phrase to which some abbreviation refers?

texts:
E.g., when you use 'BAL' to refer to 'Baltimore'-- or even the 'Baltimore Orioles'-- we call 'BAL' an abbreviation. What is 'Baltimore' in this context?

I've yet to find support on Wikipedia for my hunch, that this too is an antecedent. It is a logical antecedent, anyway, if not a grammatical one. But the inspiration for this question comes from a real need for the grammatical term, if one exists. (For my purposes, I really hope it does. "There are only two hard problems in computer science...")


texts:
I know that ^ is called a caret, but this doesn't seem to apply to the similarly shaped but nonetheless different < and > symbols. The only names I've heard them called is the less-than sign and the greater-than sign, but those names seem rather informal and apply only to their use in math. The symbols are used in other contexts as well, so it seems they would have less specific names.

Does anyone know the technical term for these symbols? (I know that some symbols, like . and ( ), have different names in American and British English, so any differences there with < and > would be appreciated as well.)


texts: A good single word or shorter phrase for "ascending numbers with no gaps"

texts:
What's a good word/phrase for that concept? By ascending with no gaps, I mean something like:

3, 4, 5, 6, 7

In other words, every number after the first, n0, can be defined as nx = nx-1 + 1, x > 0.
Obviously there are gaps before the first and after the last but I don't care about those.


texts: Is it right to say about something inefficient, for example: 'This process is poorly organized. It's like one leg is running and another is walking?'


texts: Is there a word that is equivalent to handicap but doesn't imply a negative effect?

texts:
Imagine a scenario where the default value for a temperature is 20°C. Is there a word that you can use to say that if you do X you add 2°C to that value, if you do Y you minus 7°C to that value and if you do Z you add 1°C.

I want to explain that `for each action you apply a ...'

I can think of two words that are similar:

You could say you apply a handicap - as you would in golf

Or you apply a multiplier

The following question :What is a word similar to "multiplier" but for addition (or subtraction) suggests addend or subtrahend but again this implies a positive or negative direction.


texts: In "laugh your head off", Is "laugh" an intransitive verb?

texts:
I am a little confused with a transitive and intransitive verb form.

Can someone help me with this, please?


texts: Was I wrong when I used the word "invite" in this context?

texts:
A friend lives in Saudi. I asked her "won't you invite me to your country". She got this question wrong and thought I wanted to be with her in Saudi while visiting places.
I just wanted to know whether she would like if I visit her country.
Was I wrong with my question?

Also, if I was wrong, how should I have asked the question what I really meant?


texts: The B strings tuned w/ low E 7th fret harmonic-(6th string,7th fret).


texts: What on earth is ''laws of individual races ''?

texts:
I  am reading a text in which I have came across a few sentences that I cannot understand.
As a matter of fact, I think I cannot understand the text because I am unfamiliar with the subject of discussion. I have been forced to read this short text. I  will quote the text.

  The fact that God has given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race can in no way be a bar to the owning of private property. For God has granted the earth to mankind in general, not in the sense that all without distinction can deal with it as they like, but rather that no part of it was assigned to any one in particular, and that the limits of private possession have been left to be fixed by man's own industry, and by the laws of individual races. Moreover, the earth, even though apportioned among private owners, ceases not thereby to minister to the needs of all, inasmuch as there is not one who does not sustain life from what the land produces. Those who do not possess the soil contribute their labor; hence, it may truly be said that all human subsistence is derived either from labor on one's own land, or from some toil, some calling, which is paid for either in the produce of the land itself, or in that which is exchanged for what the land brings forth.
  (The text is from Rerum novarum by Pope Leo XIII)

I can not grasp with the expression by the laws of individual races. What on earth is laws of individual races? is it a religious expression? can you please write these expression anew and with other words?
This compound is less problematic than the first. I can guess the meaning of it. But I am not sure. As you know subsistence has a number of meanings, that are sometimes related. Does it means here what people need to live, including food and clothes?

definitions of subsistence according to MERRIAM WEBSTER

{a} (1) :  real being :  existence (2) :  the condition of remaining in existence :  continuation, persistence
{b} :  an essential characteristic quality of something that exists {c} :  the character possessed by whatever is logically conceivable
{c} :  the character possessed by whatever is logically conceivable
:  :  means of subsisting: such as {a} :  the minimum (as of food and shelter) necessary to support life {b} :  a source or means of obtaining the necessities of life


texts:
I was reading through this article recently, and I noticed that the first and seventh paragraphs are identical.

Stylistically speaking, is it common to repeat entire strings of text as shown here? Speaking personally, I find it awkward to be reading the same thing over again.

I'm not seeking a definitive ruling on this, but rather opinions on the prevalence of this particular styling and formatting choice.


texts: Is ‘(stroll with) a spring in one’s heels” a popular English idiom?

texts:
I came across the phrase, “strolled over to a place with a spring in his heels” in Jeffery Archer’s novel, Kane & Abel, which I started to read a few months ago and still in the midway.
It appears in the following sentence:

  “He (Abel Rosnovski, one of the two leading characters) was certain
  the banker would not have found a buyer, but nonetheless he strolled
  over to the Continental Trust with a spring in his heels. He liked the
  idea of being the manager of the best hotel in Chicago.”

Though I can easily surmise that ‘stroll with a spring in one’s heels’ means to stroll lightheartedly and cheerfully -We express this feeling as 小躍りして歩く‐walk cheerfully like dancing in Japanese-, I don’t find this phrase in any of OALD, online OED, CED, and Merriam-Webster.

Google NGram doesn’t register “a spring in one’s heels,” but it registers “a spring in my step,” of which currency restarted around circ 1930 following a long hiatus after its short emergence during 1840 through 1980.

I also found the definition of “a spring in one's step” as “(n.uc. / idiomatic) enthusiasm, energy or a positive outlook or cheerful attitude” in wikitionar, and the following example in glossfree.com/ :

  “I've made the decision to March forward into March with a spring in
  my step and a smile in my heart for many days of living life to its
  every emotion and experience that lies ahead and enjoy it! Life's too
  short to get bogged.”

Is “(do with) a spring in one’s step” a popular English idiom, and “stroll with a spring in his heels” is just a variation coined by Jeffery Archer?


texts: How do you say if someone loved you but you didn't know that in the past

texts:
Consider you graduated from college many years ago and you run into a friend from college and she says that Alice loved you when we were students at college. Alice was your classmate, and we can also assume she is not interested in you anymore.

So how do you describe that you did not realize/did not know, up until now, somebody liked you in the past when your talking about it with another friend.

My guess:

  When we were classmates, Alice would have to have loved me.

But I am not sure.

Second scenario could be:

Your mom says when you were an infant you always wanted to play with the cat at home. Of course you don't remember this.

How do you describe this situation to somebody else.

Could it be

  When I was an infant, I would have love to have played with the cat.


texts: Is "was" being left out of the following translation before shown because of parallelism?

texts: "If this work could be discovered, it might, he thought, in all probability be restored. Some of the country people were therefore seized, and, inquiry being made of them, the line of the canal was pointed out, and the place shown at which it had been derived from the Nahr-Malcha."


texts: What do you call a document that doesn't need a signature?

texts:
Is there a term describing a document that doesn't need to be signed in order to be valid?

Edit after several answers and comments:
An electronic banking system can generate documents for a user to print. Some of these documents have a note at the bottom saying 'Generated by an electronic system of bank XXX. (This) document doesn't need a signature'. For a layman like me these documents are 'something in between' a document provided by a bank and signed by a bank employee and a printout of a screenshot made by user. I need to refer to this document 'type' and I was wondering if there is some (legal) word to call it.


texts:
Is there a verb form for 'Logistics'?

  We logistic your growth.

Does this sentence make sense in English?


texts: Difference between 'with reference to', 'with regard to', 'concerning' and 'apropos of'

texts:
I spoke few words with reference to this book, 'honesty is the best policy'.
  I spoke few words with regard to this book, 'honesty is the best policy'.
  I spoke few words concerning this book, 'honesty is the best policy'.
  I spoke few words apropos of this book, 'honesty is the best policy'.

Notes for the examples mentioned above:

When I say with reference to this book, I mean that the book itself says that honesty is the best policy. [I put a reference here]
When I say with regard to this book, I have said about the book that honesty is the best policy. Concerning and apropos of also mean the same as with regard to.

The Oxford English Living Dictionaries defines it in the following way, that shows that apropos of, with reference to, and concerning have the same meaning:

  with reference to; concerning

I know that there is distinction in preposition choice, as in:

  with reference to . . .
  with regard to . . .
  concerning [zero preposition].
  apropos of . . .

If anyone of you say that with reference to means the same as rest of the prepositions, then please, is it grammatical to use these prepositions in the same sense? Or, if you think that there is difference in the usage, formality and informality, then please make me understand about that.

Besides, is there any connection of 'as concerns' and 'in respect of' with the four prepositions mentioned above.


texts: Opposite of "Save" with respect to saving in a list

texts:
I'm developing an application where with the ability to browse items and save them for later.  The behavior is essentially a user will look at items, and if the items are not present on their list I present the option "save", but if the user already has that item saved I would like to present an option to remove it from their list.  The best I have found is:

"save" - meaning save this item to your list
"remove" - meaning remove this item from your list

Are there any other words that would fit better?


texts: Why is walri not the correct pluralization of walrus?


texts: Origin of "man!", "(oh) boy!", and "oh brother"

texts:
Where did these interjections:

man!
(oh) boy!
oh brother

come from, and why are they all male?

If you don’t know their current meanings as interjections, it sounds very strange to say Man! when you are disappointed or frustrated, and Oh boy! when you are excited (although people are increasingly using it for other emotional contexts), and Oh brother (well, I'm not even sure of this interjection’s usage).

Why are they used as interjections, and why are they all male?


texts: Difference between 'lattice' and ''diagram'

texts: I would like to know the difference between 'lattice' and 'diagram' in mathematics context.


texts:
Examples:

  Mary thought the man was nice-looking. It wasn't enough to lower her
  defenses, though.

  Tom crossed his arms on the table. He did it so hard, though, he
  hurt his elbows.

  Sophie stopped finding meaning in things. Not in a spiritual or philosophical way, though; things simply ceased to make sense to her.

In what other way can I convey the same meaning without using the word though?


texts: If I call a Black person "nigger", how bad is this today? If a Black calls another Black with this word, is it wrong?


texts: How to avoid ambiguity when referring to a 24-hour period?

texts:
Suppose I want to refer to a 24-hour period (from midnight till midnight). The word "day" can in fact mean "24 hours" (as in here), however it's somewhat ambiguous. I believe that if I say something like "just wait a day", most people will understand it in a common meaning. I could also say "just wait 24 hours", but that sounds a little weird to me, about as much as saying "I want 127.5 grams of cheese, please" in a store.

So how would a native speaker refer to the 24-hour period to avoid ambiguity (and being concise in the same time)? Maybe there is a fancy scientific word for it?


texts: "I know him ʙᴇɪɴɢ honest" vs “I know him ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ honest”

texts:
The intended original sentence before conversion is:

I know that he is an honest man.

I want to know about these two possible reformulated versions of that sentence that replace the original’s bolded that... part with a non-finite verb of the “right” form:

I know him to be honest.
I know him being honest.

Does it make any difference whether we use an infinitive or a gerund here following know?  I know English grammar has no general rule saying whether any given verb must be followed only by infinitives or only by gerunds, or whether both are acceptable.  We non-native speakers know that we have to learn how certain verbs must be followed by gerunds and others by infinitives on a case-by-case basis. So I’m trying to learn which case this one is. If both versions sound acceptable to native speakers, do they mean the same thing or different things?

How would you analyse both of those grammatically? Is the bolded non-finite-verb phrase there an object of the main verb know or only a modifier? If it’s an object, what kind of object is it? If it’s a modifier, what does it modify?


texts: A woman with two children came. Is "with two children" an attribute or an adverbial modifier?

texts: I'm not sure what the phrase “with two children” is doing here. Is it describing "a woman" or "came" or this make sense both way.


texts: Why is "have to" not listed as a phrasal verb in the dictionary? "have" means to be in possession of something while "have to" means "obliged to". So "have to" seem to be non-compositional in terms of meaning with respect to the meanings of "have" and "to". Can "obligation" be expressed using the word "have" without it being followed by "to"?


texts: Why is it that people have started to use an interrogative sentence form when not asking a question in American English?

texts:
I'm not sure if this is something recent, although I've been noticing it much more frequently now than say a couple of years ago. Many times people will make a statement, but will have it in an Interrogative form. For example, I recently saw this sentence online:

  Consider what are the consequences of not being great in your home.

This was the sentence construction; however, I would have though it would be more like this:

  Consider what the consequences of not being great in your home are.

All I did was move the verb, "are" to the end of the sentence.

Why is it that this happens? Is this a recent development in language, or is it that I'm just now noticing it? If I were to use this interrogative form, would it be commonly considered correct in a formal setting?


texts:
When l was reading a Pokemon book, I saw this expression "This calm and kindly pokemon is slow to anger, …".
I'd like to ask you whether "kind" and "kindly" as an
adjective are almost same or not. If there're some differences,could you tell me about that?


texts: Was "Rascalism" ever used to mean drapetomania?

texts:
"Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness described by American
  physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851 that caused black slaves to
  flee captivity."

Was the word rascalism ever used at the time of slavery to refer to slaves who escaped slavery, to refer to this supposed mental illness?  Or is this a modern invention, a fiction?

I've heard an etymology for "rascal" that involves the word "rascalism", where rascalism is another word for drapetomania.

I know that the etymology for rascal is incorrect.  There are many online sources for that.


texts:
A recent workplace conversation prompted this question. Red Hat, the software company behind a popular Linux distribution, came by the office and everyone got some random trinkets, including a number of red baseball caps with the company logo on it.

This led to some amusement about the right way to describe these items, in text and in speech.

"I see you're wearing your [x] today", where x is:

Red "Red Hat" hat
"Red Hat" red hat
"Red Hat's" red hat
something else?

Is there a rule for these kind of duplicated words?


texts: Prefix or adjective meaning "one and a half"

texts:
Is there a prefix or adjective that means "one and a half", as "tri-" or "triple" is for "three"?

The exact usage I have is to describe "18" in terms of a dozen. Where I live they've started making 18-egg cartons, and the local grocer was wondering what name to give them in his computerised cash register, hoping for a single word.

Even slang, informal or invented term would do if there isn't such a term already.


texts: How to use “should” to express surprise and expectation respectively?

texts:
The value should be zero can be read as two totally different meanings:

The value is zero, and we have expected that it would be zero.
The value is zero. But we have never expected that it would be zero.

How to use should to express surprise and expectation respectively like this case?


texts: Is the verb for this gesture "wave off?"

texts:
Here is the definition:

  to wave off

  To dismiss or refuse by waving the hand or arm: waved off his invitation to join the group.

But can "wave off" also be used for this

gesture, communicating a "whatever" with a sprinkle of "oh, come on!" or an "oh, f*** you..."?

Are there any other/more specific verbs for this gesture? Or does "wave off" get the message across just fine?


texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  I request that my proposal is communicated to the team for necessary action.
  I request that my proposal be communicated to the team for necessary action.

I would appreciate further discussion on the topic so that I do not make similar mistakes or face this indecision in future.


texts: Is it, "otherwise directed" vs. "directed otherwise"?

texts:
I've seen conflicting usage of the two phrases, and I wonder which one is grammatically correct and why?
Following are example sentence:

Do something unless directed otherwise.

Do something unless otherwise directed.


texts: Can you please anybody give an example for right usage of veranda. I go through Google and Wikipedia, its not mentioned as proper in Usage


texts: Meaning of "all day long" as used by Bradley Walsh

texts: In the TV series The Chase, presenter Bradley Walsh frequently uses the phrase 'all day long'.  In the situations when he uses it, I would expect 'perfect' or 'dead right'.   Is that a meaning for 'all day long', and if so, where is it from?   I am an English teacher and I had never heard this usage until I first watched the programme about 3 months ago.


texts:
I'm reading Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, and I came across a phrase I'm unfamiliar with.  For context, Zoyd (the main character) has taken a job playing music on a temperamental synthesizer in a flying Hawaiian-themed cocktail lounge.

  Zoyd was presented with a thick tattered fake book full of Hawaiian tunes, and on the lounge synthesizer, a Japanese make he'd heard of but never played, he found a ukulele option that would provide up to three orchestral sections of eight ukes each.  It would take several flights across the Pacific Ocean and back before Zoyd felt easy with this by no means user-friendly instrument.  The critter liked to drift off pitch on him, or worse, into that shrillness that sours the stomach, curtails seduction, poisons the careful ambiance.  Nothing he could find in the dash-one under the seat ever corrected what he more and more took to be conscious decisions by the machine.

What the heck is a "dash-one" in this context?  Googling the phrase (or searching on this site) yields a lot of people debating whether to use one dash or two when writing, so it's difficult to find this phrase in any other context.


texts: Can this sentence be worded in this way?

texts:
Instead of saying:
I was eating a steak, and John was eating the lunch he brought from home.

Could I word it as such:

I was eating a steak, and John the lunch he brought from home.


texts: There is a sentence I can't fully understand. Check these things, please!

texts:
You become a cold, calculating creature who slips into a sort of mediocrity where you realize there is difference between your desired self and your actual self.

In the above sentence, some parts are understood and some parts are not.
First, is this grammatically correct English? Second, would you paraphrase this for me?

I'm having the most trouble with the words become, slips into, and where.


texts:
Can you please tell me what "working out of" means in this context?

"African composers working out of European-based choral and instrumental art music traditions are gaining recognition, as are the varied roles that women play in making music."

Google Books: 'The Harvard Dictionary of Music' By Don Michael Randel


texts: How to capitalize number in a persons name?

texts:
When refering to a king with a number in his name, say richard the second, how should one capitalize that.

Should it be:

Richard the second
Richard the Second
Richard The Second

Or something else?


texts: Is it correct to say "of all the things money can't buy, law isn't one"?

texts: Is "Of all the things money can't buy, law isn't one" grammatically correct?


texts: Etymology of "to be cuter than a monkey with a puppy"

texts:
I think that this is an idiom, but I didn't find any explanations. I wonder about the monkey. Just to be cuter than a puppy would be clear. Monkey's (if it refers to the animal) are known for being silly or a bit stupid, primitive. Doesn't it have a slight negative connotation?

Why is it called "to be cuter than a monkey with a puppy"?


texts: Reported speech: why is the past perfect the right answer here?

texts:
Please help me to find out the right answer.

  He said that they ______ each other for many years.
     a) know
     b) have known
     c) knew
     d) had known

In the book I referred the right answer is d). Anybody can explain why it selected and why the answer is not a)?


texts: What is the difference between field and subject and what is the discipline here?


texts: 'Could have' vs. 'Would have been able to' in a Type-III Conditional

texts:
This type-III conditional sentence,

  “I could not have played volleyball when I was an elementary school
  student if I had been short.”

should be (I think) changed to:

  “I would not have been able to play volleyball when I was an
  elementary school student if I had been short.”

But why?

Following some of the advice from the ‘was able to’ vs ‘could’ question
I can see that ‘could’ and ‘could not’ can be used to talk about a general ability, in the past. And the two sentences gleaned from the conditionals,

  “In elementary school I could play volleyball [because I was tall
  enough].”

  “In elementary school I couldn’t play volleyball [because I was too
  short].”

seem perfectly fine.

Then, the opposite, counterfactual of that first type-III conditional using ‘could’ seems to work:

  “I could have played volleyball when I was an elementary school
  student if I had been taller.”

It doesn’t seem like ‘could have played’ needs to be replaced with ‘would have been able to play’, because, following the rule of talking about a general ability (and not a single past occasion), ‘could’ works well enough. However, with the original sentence, why do I have the intuition that ‘could not have played’ has to be ‘would not have been able to play’?

User ‘Arun’ quotes, in that 'was able to' vs 'could' thread, from Practical English Grammar by AJ Thomson et al, that

  “the one difference between could and be able to in the past
  affirmative is that could just implies that you had the general
  freedom or permission to do something, but may not have actually done
  or achieved it, where as be able to implies that you actually went
  ahead and did it."

I feel this is an important addition to the ‘could’ vs. ‘was able to’ usage criteria, but how does this ‘actually went ahead and did it’ feature of be able to apply in a type-III conditional when it’s inherently hypothetical and counterfactual?

Or is there something to the single past occasion usage of 'was able to' that applies in a type-III conditional?

“I wouldn’t have been able to understand the usage of ‘could’ and ‘was able to’ in a type-III conditional if I hadn’t come to english.stackexchange.com.” is something I hope I can soon say...


texts: Word for the distance from the waterline to the main deck of a boat

texts:
What is the word for the distance from the waterline to the main deck of a ship? In other words, the height of the main deck (or gunwale if that has a name) above the water when the ship is at sea.

To understand my motivation, broadly speaking I am interested in the furthest you would fall if you were standing on the main deck and went overboard.

The distance from the waterline to the bottom of the boat is called the draught.


texts: What is the way to understand "ergative verbs"?

texts:
I am confused with "paired ergative verbs" and "unpaired ergative verbs".

He knocked the vase off the table and it broke.

Is [broke] in this sentence a paired ergative verb, because we can make the transitive counterpart as "He broke the vase"?
He died with his boots on, like any good cowboy.

Then, is [died] in this sentence an unpaired ergative verb, because we can't make any other counterpart?
The black horse ran faster than the other ones.

Now, what kind of verb is this [ran]?
Is this sentence below correct?
"He ran the black horse."
If correct, is the verb [ran] also a paired ergative verb?
As I knew, the verb [die] and [run] are intransitive verbs. What is different between an "ergative verb" and "intransitive verb"? I mean, is there a method to divide the verbs?


texts: Can "real" be used as an adverb to describe an adjective?

texts:
Is this correct?

  That is a real cool answer.

I learned that that was incorrect, since "real" is an adjective which can describe a noun, e.g. "real answer" but it is not an adverb which can describe an adjective, "real cool". Instead you would have to say:

  That is a really cool answer.

Since "really" is an adverb.


texts: Is there a word for a combination of utopia and dystopia?

texts: There are a number of works that depict an ostensibly utopian society which has elements of or is arguably a dystopia (such as Huxley's Brave New World or what Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four's Airstrip One alleges itself to be). Is there a term for this?


texts: Word for an event that marks the beginning of bad things in a series

texts:
Imagine thinking back to a bad event from your past. You realize the bad event did not happen all at once but was the climax of a chain of events.

I wonder if there is a specific word to describe the very first link in this chain of events, the last link of which is the worst. In other words, in retrospect--since hindsight is 20/20--you realize the very first link presaged the worst event which was yet to come.


texts:
1) Established in 2000 by a brand consultant, James Bond, Nike became ~~

2) Established in 2000 by brand consultant, Jame Bond, Nike became~~

Which one is right? Should I put “a” or not?


texts: Correct Present Perfect Usage: Is it Disappearing?

texts:
Certain verbs such as drink, speak, and swim seemed to be misused more and more with this tense. Is this a regional phenomenon or common in all English speaking countries?
For example, in southern Illinois and western Michigan many people say, I have spoke, I have swam, or I have drank and opposed to using spoken, swum or drunk.


texts:
(EDITED minimally 5 hours after posting, to apply corrections in terminology suggested by members in comments -- the original question was "is 'infant child' grammatically correct?")

Infant is one of my favorite words, and I also like the term "infant child" which is found quite commonly on Google search.  However the common definition of 'infant' is 'child, very young' and the medical definition of 'infant' is 'child aged below 1 year.' The word 'child' is implicit within the meaning of 'infant'. This seems to be an example of redundancy which English language teachers and textbooks generally advise students to avoid. In that case, Is it all right to use the term "infant child" in writing? (If not, why is it found used on websites and even by the media?)

Examples:

https://www.google.co.in/amp/www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-levine-cosleeping-bedsharing-global-20160916-snap-story,amp.html

http://creativeplayrooms.com/infant-child-care-programs/

http://www.srhc.com/clinical_services/infant_child_development_program.php


texts:
Is:

  I peeked around the corner and, to my surprise, my classmate was crying in the corner.

proper comma placement?

I have a feeling it's not


texts: I am asking this question on behalf of a friend of mine. Do tell me, can and when or why can we use past form when we predict something in the future. I agree the phrase is not full. Anyway, the friend said that she heard it on the radio and it was the weather forecast. She was a little surprised by the past form. Unfortunately, she could not remember any sentence before or after.


texts:
"If one still refused to lie down and die, he lost, or loosed, his temper. His temper was like a red dog, and he always had it close to hand."

What is the meaning of "lie down and die"? Is it a phrase?


texts: What special implication does ‘totally’ have in “He’s totally going to call you”?

texts:
There was the following sentence in an article titled, “Like, Degrading the Language? No Way” in New York Times (April 5), in which the author says Americans are moving backward on language:

  “(Like the use of ‘like’) the use of “totally” mines the same vein.
  “He’s totally going to call you” does not mean “He is going to call
  you in a total fashion.” It has a more specific meaning, although only
  handled subconsciously by speakers, as so much of language is. “He’s
  totally going to call you” contains an implication: that someone has
  said otherwise or that the chances of it may seem slim at first glance
  but in fact aren’t. As with “like,” “totally” tracks and nods to the
  opinions of others. It’s totally civilized.”
  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/opinion/sunday/like-degrading-the-language-no-way.html?hp&rref=opinion

Although the author explains “totally going to call you” contains an implication of someone having said otherwise, I’m not still clear with the meaning of “He’s totally going to call you.”

What does it mean? He’s totally going to call you “what”?

How does “He’s totally going to call you.” differ from “He’s going to call you.”? Is this expression (use of totally) ubiquitous today as the author asserts?