texts: Using "actually" to talk about the present

texts:
The word "actually" is widely used more or less in the same context as "in fact":

You're a doctor, right?
Yes ... well, actually / in fact I haven't graduated yet.

But, is "actually" also used to talk about the present? (like "currently")

What do you do for a living?
Actually / Currently, I'm working at an Insurance Company.


texts: Rephrasing "A are what is B" to "A are what are B"?

texts:
I see sentences like

They are what is remembered.
More troops are what is going to be needed.

And got me wonderin': Can I rephrase them this way?

They are what are remembered.
More troops are what are going to be needed.

Which way is better?


texts: American English. Please help me identify the correct form of 'become' in the following sentence:

texts:
I'm sure we'd all rather I became a bit more self-sufficient.

Using became feels right, but I would appreciate anyone who could explain what's going on grammatically here. I think become is in the subjunctive, so maybe most correctly I should say

  I'm sure we'd all rather that I become a bit more self-sufficient.

Is that strictly necessary? And regarding my original construction:
am I wrong to feel so right?


texts:
How to say this correctly? In the first sentence I want it to be the way he said it, describing a verb, and in the second one I want to make it the way he is, describing a noun.

And what part of speech will they be? And also what part of speech is the word "enough", is it an adverb?

  He said it funnily enough or He said it funny enough

  He is funny enough or He is funnily enough


texts:
I'm currently taking a grammar class and the professor gave us this phrase to ponder upon. She said that there was a problem with it. I can't seem to find the problem nor the solution.

  Manolette met Julette when he was leaving the airport.

(consider both Manolette and Julette MALE)

  Ashley told Lama that she has the smallest room in the dorm.

Both sentences have the same problem... but have a different solution.
I think the pronoun "he" and "she" is unable to identify both their antecedents in both sentences?


texts: "He could do X for England". Are there similar expressions in other parts of the English-speaking world to this derogatory sentence?

texts:
In Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe novels, I've read the phrase: "He could [do x] for England. It is always derogatory.  It is a lovely phrase!

Because I can't put my finger on a quote from these books, I'll make up some examples which capture the tone.  A man might say of his wife: "She could shop for England."  Or it might be said of a man with bad table manners: "Don't invite him -- he could belch for England."  A person who has a bad tennis serve might be described as: "She could double-fault for England."

My question is in two parts:  (a) Is this expression widespread in England, or is it confined to the region of the D/P novels (Yorkshire)? (b) Are there similar expressions in other parts of the English-speaking world?


texts: "Who is this for?" vs "Who does this belong to?"

texts:
Yesterday I asked an Australian friend "Who is this for?" in reference to a wallet on his desk. He laughed and thought my sentence didn't make sense in the context of the situation. Instead, he proposed that I should have asked "Who does this belong to?"

Can someone help me understand the difference and whether my usage was correct or incorrect, or whether my friend's response to my query was warranted (at least conversationally)?


texts: Difference between "change is constant" and "change is a constant"

texts:
The boss asked me the other day whether it's more correct to say

  In our business, change is constant.

or

  In our business, change is a constant.

Both of these sound perfectly correct to me, which is what I told him; but there's a slight difference in meaning that I just can't seem to articulate. Help?

Definitions, not that they're much help:

  constant (noun): a quantity that does not vary
  constant (adjective): unvarying in nature; steadfast in purpose or devotion or affection; uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing


texts:
What kind of reaction is a "trigger reaction"? Is it a immediate and instant reaction?

  The context is added:

  The available space is too confined,rendering any such meeting of
  gazes ‘unbearable’, but somehow the weight of that which haunts the
  scene makes it all the more so. A trigger reaction to a prevalent
  sense of both unease and not-quiteknowing- what-to-think which to some
  extent determines the route you end up taking through the grid, and
  which is surely replicated over and over.


texts: Is "deepo" an archaic spelling of "depot"?

texts:
In several places in Mark Twain and C.D. Warner's novel The Gilded Age, the word "deepo" is used.

One such occurrence is the following:

  Dilworthy will be elected to-day, and by day, after to-morrow night he will be in New York ready to put in his shovel—and you haven’t lived in Washington all this time not to know that the people who walk right by a Senator whose term is up without hardly seeing him will be down at the deepo to say ‘Welcome back and God bless you; Senator, I’m glad to see you, sir!’ when he comes along back re-elected, you know.

Is this an old way of spelling "depot," or what is the story here?


texts: A term for the focal point for considering ancestors and descendents

texts:
Going to try my best to describe my question in a half decent way.
Is there a generic term for the subject you are using to define the ancestor/descendent relationship?
Or, another way:
If I'm the focal point that defines everyone before me as ancestors, and after me as descendants, do I have a term like ancestor and descendant?


texts:
The term "high and dry" has always confused me.  As in the case provided by the Merriam Webster online dictionary:

  The inadequate supplies of vaccine left many people high and dry when the flu season arrived.

I understand the meaning of the term, to be outside of the area of help, but I don't understand how this expression came to be used for such a situation. Where does this expression originate from? How did it come to mean what it means today?


texts: Use of the term illegal to describe a person

texts: A respected newspaper reporter advised me today that journalists use the term undocumented immigrant instead of illegal alien to refer to someone living in the country illegally simply because a person can not be illegal. However, most deem the term undocumented immigrant to be merely an euphemism. According to his rationale "[a] person can’t, under [by] the definition, be illegal. Only an object or action can be described as such." This surprised me especially because the term "illegal alien" so widely used in the press and even by the Internal Revenue Service. What is the appropriate English term for a someone living in the country illegally?


texts: What's the difference between "authentication" and "authorization"?

texts:
I have noticed "Authentication" is used in some mobile apps when I attempt to log in or check my account.

Normally I use "Authorization" in my writing.

Is there a difference between the two? Also, is "Authorization" the same as "Authorisation"?


texts:
When an identifier describes a unique person or thing and is preceded by “the” or a possessive, use a comma: But withhold the comma if not unique:

Does it mean unique in the world or unique in the context? (For instance: the only person in attendance at a conference versus the designer of DeLorean?)

The celebrated British artist David Hockney is a master of colour.

How does this differ from this example: The distinguished scientist, James Watson, will be addressing the crowd tomorrow?

Is this usage of commas just dependent on context alone (introducing someone), and commas would be used as such. Clearly the resource has omitted commas with the David Hockney example and not on the other. So what is the distinction?

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/147958/using-commas-before-names?rq=1
This answer doesn't specify introductions.


texts: Is there a hypernym for "order confirmation", "quotation" and "invoice"?

texts:
Is there an abstraction for the following three words?

Order confirmation
Quotation
Invoice

I want to create a base class for them but I can't find a word that describes all three.


texts:
What is a general word used to describe a celestial body such as a  planet, moon, star, meteor, etc.?

I’m looking for a informal word to fill in the blank in this sentence:

  This shuttle is smaller, designed to seat only the six questers, can move a lot faster, and has features specifically designed for unexplored  ________<

I don’t want to get too specific and list out all the different types of space rocks the characters might end up on, but I also don’t want to use a technical term that might alienate the readers.


texts:
I know that expect is used this way:

I expect you to do that.

But I have also seen examples like with verb in its "ing" form:

What to expect working at...
I will expect you doing (does not sound right to me)

I would be grateful for explanation.


texts: Difference between "validation" and "verification"

texts:
What is the difference between validation and verification? When looking them up on Wiktionary they seem to mean mostly the same thing, but is there a difference?

For example, would I be correct in saying that

Checking that the format of an email address is valid, would be validation?
The process of sending an email to an email address to have a user click on a link to make sure the email is in use and correct, would be verification?

Or could I have used both words in both cases?


texts:
Which one is correct: an excellent article on ant behaviour  or an excellent article about ant behaviour?

If both are correct, is there a difference in their meaning and usage?


texts:
Here's a text from an exercise of Hewins's grammar book:

"The door kept flying open in the wind so I tied it up with string."

I don't understand why the indefinite article is left out before the word "string" in defiance of the fact that "string" is a countable noun.


texts: "Four times greater chance" vs. "four times greater of a chance"

texts:
Researchers from Finland's National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health discovered that women who participate in an abortion have four times greater chance of dying in the following year than women who chose to give birth to their child.

Is the bolded part grammatical? Or should it be changed to read "… have four times greater of a chance of dying"?


texts:
I was told that in American English you cannot use "affiliate" the way it's done in the following example, but in European English it would be permissible. Is this true?

  ... we should, to varying degrees, either affiliate them or develop relations with them.


texts:
There are a few general principles that apply to all the kinds of teaching. The first principle is that the teacher should be clear. Whatever you are teaching, teach clearly. Discover what your students do not know and then try to explain it to them in a way that everyone will understand.

Is the verb "understand" above an intransitive verb (a verb that doesn't allow a direct object), where "that" being a relative adverb and the part "explain it to them in a way that everyone will understand" meaning "explain it to them in a way in which, or in such a way that, everyone will understand (≒'understand whatever you are teaching')"?
Or is it a transitive verb, where "a way" being the object of the verb ("everyone will understand a way"), "that" being a relative pronoun, and the same part meaning "explain it to them in a way which everyone will understand" instead?


texts:
If someone reports an defect to me and is asking for an update, how should I reply?

I will inform you once the issue is resolved or I will inform you once the issue has been resolved?


texts: Is there a word/ phrase to describe somebody who has devoted their life to practising something but is still not very good at it?

texts:
I need a word/phrase/idiom (either adjective or noun) to describe somebody who has devoted their life to practising something but is still not very good at it.

Example:

  Look at Uncle, practised music all his life and still not very good at it: he is  __________ (adjective) or he is a _________ (noun)

Please note that the person has shown great interest and committment over a lifetime but possibly lacked the special skill or talent required to really excel at their chosen field.

Note 2: failure, misfit, disappointment, ordinary, poor and mediocre are not a good fit for the word I am seeking, but the case of mediocre professional musicians was the sad reality that prompted my question.


texts: References to words in comma separated clause

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  It seems to me that, since many of the speakers are in high-demand, some of them may not stay for the entire conference.

As I understand it, if we remove the comma delimited clause, the sentence should still read OK.

It seems to me that ... some of them may not stay for the entire conference.

It does read OK, but what "them" refers to is no longer specified. Does this matter or do I need to be explicit (and repetitive)?

  It seems to me that, since many of the speakers are in high-demand, some of the speakers may not stay for the entire conference.

Or is it better to remove the duplication by forward referencing the speakers:

  It seems to me that, since many are in high-demand, some of the speakers may not stay for the entire conference.


texts: When is it correct to use upper case letters for nouns that may only be unique in a given context?

texts:
First off, the title is misleading; feel free to improve upon it.

I've noticed words surrounding titles often start with upper case letters, but I'm uncertain if this is correct. After reading this article I cannot find rules that justify the uppercase letters.

EXAMPLES:

1) The student union building of many universities is abbreviated SUB but I often see the full name written as "Student Union Building". By itself "student union building" is not a proper noun since it doesn't refer to one unique entity but when speaking of a certain university it might.

2) Common buildings often have names beginning with upper case letters. For example, I've seen fire hall written as "Fire Hall" and city hall written as "City Hall" (example).

3) I have a ticket which reads "Winter Formal Dance".

Is the  capitalization of these words correct? If so, then why? Is it a matter of rules, or is the deciding factor whatever the owner decides? For example, if a swimming coach decides practices on Wednesday will be known as "Wednesday Practices", would it be correct to always write 'practices' with the upper case "P"?


texts:
Why is the article the used in the following verse of the Bible?

  At the first God made the heaven and the earth.

To me at first, which according to OED means at the beginning; in the initial stage or stages, sounds more natural, unless there are specific grammatical delicacies that I am not aware of.

The passage is from an app on my iPhone called My Bible Pro.  It uses the King James Version of the Bible. Here are some screenshots.


texts: Should the plural form of "is" be used in the sentence "Why is x good and y bad?"

texts: Microsoft word seems to think it should be "Why are x good and y bad?" and I don't agree because that doesn't sound right. And yet I can't really think of why either should be better because "y bad" is not a complete sentence in its own right. Meanwhile, writing "Why is x good and why is y bad?" seems redundant. And if I treat "x good" and "y bad" as subjects in subject verb agreement then it leads to the really awkward sounding sentence "Why are x good and y bad?".


texts: What is the precise meaning of "f***" in the context of the hip hop mantra, "F*** bitches, get money"?

texts:
I've been hearing the line "Fuck bitches / Get money" in hip hop songs recently. I mostly noticed it lately in a couple of notable songs by Lil Wayne and other Young Money affiliated artists, but through some casual searching, the term seems to originate in pop culture from a Notorious B.I.G. song called "Get Money."

Until recently I assumed that the term was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek raison d'être for hip hop figures; that is, to have sex with lots of women and to make a lot of money, in rock-star fashion.

But I sometimes see young people use the phrase as a hustler mantra, to disregard the pursuit of women/love for the pursuit of money/status/career.[1] The female counterpart would be "Fuck niggas / Get money."

Could I get some clarification on this, and possibly an explanation for how this latter meaning could be popularized when it (in my opinion) clashes with the hyper-masculine rock star image in mainstream hip hop culture? I know this phrase's precise meaning is in some dispute in pop culture.[2]

[1] http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/joseph-ducreux-archaic-rap

see also: the Urban Dictionary entry for "fbgm"

[2] http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3qvlyk/


texts: Is it okay to say, "I would rather eat it than look at it"?

texts:
I know "than" can be both preposition and conjunction and in this case it seems to serve as a conjunction.

But the sentence doesn't look right and I think the right sentence would be,

I would rather eat it than looking at it.

What are the grammatical rules behind this usage?


texts: Is it correct to use un-tinted or non-tinted in this use?

texts:
Related forms
nontinted, adjective
overtint, verb
overtint, noun
retint, verb (used with object)
untinted, adjective

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/untinted?s=t

One un- is added to verbs to indicate the reversal of an action:
Non- is added to nouns that imply some “action, condition, or quality.” The addition of “non-” has the sense of “absence or lack of”: Ex. non-standard.

Source: http://bottomlineenglish.com/when-to-use-the-negative-prefixes-un-and-non

Question:
In the following would un-tinted or non-tinted be the correct use, and preferably an explanation why. It seems like non-tinted is the better description based on the BottomEnglish explanation but I'm not sure. Un- seems to imply the act of removing a tint, Non- just means lacking a tint. To me it's easy to think "That window was just un-tinted by the mechanic." While "The car for sale has non-tinted windows."

While on non-tinted windows the sticker is barely visible.
While on un-tinted windows the sticker is barely visible.

Am I correct understanding that non-tinted is the better use in this sentence?


texts: How do "despite" and "rather than" work with each other at here

texts:
I read an article from Wall Street Journal by chance this morning. There was a sentence in it, "When an agreement to protect the Dreamers is reached, it will be despite this president rather than with his leadership." (by Andrew Ackerman)

I didn't get it from the first sight. I know "A rather than B" means "A but not B", so this sentence's meaning should be "When an agreement to protect the Dreamers is reached, it will be despite this president but not with his leadership." I am not sure how I should translate "it will be despite this president" to another expression.

Thanks in advance for any help.


texts: What do you mean by Communication Network?

texts:
In the following concept, what do you mean by Communication Network?

There is an association (an inter-continental one) in which each member participates in building relation among its member through social and media network. The association called themselves Vilalgename (this is their village name) Communication Network.  Can the name be the right one in this situation. What exactly is the meaning of Communication in this context?


texts: "Prison workout" — what is the origin of this term?

texts: We are wondering about the origin of the term 'prison workout'.  It is a series of exercises that you work down to finish a set or a group of sets.  For example of a 15–1 prison workout for pushups.  Start set of 15 pushups, next set 14, next set 13, and so on to one pushup.


texts: To collect someone from or to pick someone from?

texts:
What is more natural to say: To collect someone from reception (airport, train station, waiting room) or to pick someone from reception?
Or is there something more appropriate?

What would a receptionist say to someone having an appointment:
"Please, take a seat; someone from company ABC is on the way to collect (?) you".
I heard that sentence so many times, and still, it's hard to believe, I cannot remember what the phrase is!?

Collect is typically used to collect a thing: a parcel from a post office. Could it also apply to humans?

To pick has several unwanted connotations too: to pick a girl, to pick on someone, to pick a target (sniping in game) etc..


texts: When did all-caps formatting come to indicate shouting?

texts:
A question on the History stack discusses when all-caps formatting came to indicate shouting in digital text, the answer being that such formatting has been interpreted to indicate shouting long before the existence of digital media.

Is there a point during the history of the English language where all-caps formatting came into use to indicate shouting, or does this convention in writing predate even miniscule Old English?  I know that post-runic Old English had capital letters, and that the first lines of works often were written in all caps, so I suspect that the formatting was not at that time intended to be interpreted as shouting, but I can't be sure.

On the other hand, the convention is clearly present in later middle English, so there's a sort of boundary there.

"shouting" should be understood to be equivalent to anything described in Middle English as shouting (or words of similar meaning), or in Old English as    hrépende, giillende, ceallende or similar.

If you think the answer is 'the internet', you are wrong, and may wish to visit the linked question or the link herein provided.


texts: What is the false stop in a music piece called?

texts: For example, Watch around 2:10 here. What is this false stop called? is there a single word?


texts:
Consider the sentence:

  Sorry for the poorly worded sentence, I could not find a way to word it betterly.

Does the word “betterly” exist? Can it be used in a sentence like that?


texts:
What is the meaning of "teaming" in the following sentence:

  It was the school holidays, and the place was teaming with people, families, youth groups, holiday clubs. (from here)

According to Oxford Living Dictionaries, to team something with means to mach garments together which seems irrelevant here.

Regarding the above-mentioned sentence, I have one more question: Why the last item in the list (i.e. holiday clubs) is not joined with the rest with the conjunction and?


texts: Is an acronym always pronounced as a single word?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?
  Can a word that sounds the same as the way it is spelt be an initialism and an acronym?

With reference to this question Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?, I am getting confused in pronouncing acronyms as a separate entity or not.

When I searched on the internet, it confused me more. According to it,

  Unlike an abbreviation, an acronym is usually pronounced as a word.
  You do not pronounce it letter by letter. The British Broadcasting
  Corporation is often abbreviated to BBC. We pronounce all three
  letters. In the case of acronyms like NATO and AIDS, we pronounce them
  as words.

On the contrary, PHP is Hypertext Preprocessor, a recursive acronym which is not pronounced as a word. Rather, we do say each letter separately, but it is still an acronym. So clear my confusion over it.


texts: What is the idiom or single word for a person who just talks high-flying to show himself important and powerful? But, in actuality, he is not what he tries to portray himself as.


texts: How do I second one's opinion in a conversation after it has already been done?

texts:
I am participating in an email thread debating a technical problem with multiple solutions. In a recent message, one of the participants expressed an opinion I agree with.

Another participant responded with

  I would like to second John. The following happened to me a while ago, and his solution would solve this case: ...

I would like to express a favourable opinion as well, and looking for the right term.

Can the expression to second (someone) be expressed more than once in an ongoing correspondence?


texts: Word for having strong political opinions but no consistent "side"

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe someone who has strong political opinions or beliefs, but they belong to such a wide variety of "sides" that you can't really pin them down with a specific label.

For example, the person agrees with some typically leftist views but also supports some conservative ones. They also like some authoritative ones as well as certain libertarian ones, and so on.

"Centrist" seems more to describe someone who's more neutral on everything, which isn't what I want.

The closest phrase I've heard used for this is shotgun opinion but I haven't been able to find an actual word for this. Both informal and formal words or phrases are acceptable.


texts: How do you refer to an entity of controversial labelling without cataphora?

texts:
Pretend that you are beginning to describe an as-of-yet unnamed thing, but there is more than one name for it. Have a toy-example sentence:

That is the face all Redditors make when you call a majorly obese cat a majorly obese cat instead of a "chonker."

This sentence is clunky. One, there's the repetition of an already verbose noun phrase, and also, it gives greater weight to one name over another. There is a way to avoid this...:

That is the face all Redditors make when you call it a "majorly obese cat" instead of a "chonker."

...but now there's a cataphora, which could temporarily disorient a reader in a non-toy context, especially when a subordinate clause separates "it" some distance from either of the names.
This might not be a single word I'm looking for; for example, take this example using circumlocution:

Even city names can give you away. Calling the city not so far from the northern part of the border of Northern Ireland "Derry" or "Londonderry" shows what side you're on.

What's a more concise way? How do you give equal weight to "chonker" and "majorly obese cat," or "Derry" and "Londonderry," without cataphora?


texts: Which is correct, "ride on a bicycle" or "ride a bicycle"?


texts: What would be the most suitable phrase or idiom for a situation where I am very bad at one thing and extremely good at a different related thing?

texts:
E.g.

I am extremely bad at playing football but extremely good at playing foosball.

So what would be the appropriate phrase or idiom for such a scenario?


texts: How do you express that your understanding of something is completely changed?

texts: When something blows your mind and changes your understanding of something that you've believed in for years, how do you express it (formally or informally)?


texts: Active and passive verb with different prepositions for same object - commas?

texts:
I've got a sentence like this:

  A will impose B on and further be affected by C

The two verbs have nothing in common, they both just put A in some relation to C. As C is quite long I don't want to write two sentences.

Is this correct English? If yes, were do I put my commas?

Is there a nicer way to write this?


texts: How come we say "data set" instead of "datum set"?

texts: Given that "data" is the plural form, and it's playing the role of an adjective here, how come we don't use the singular form? Other kinds of sets, for example "point set", "skill set", "stationery set" all use the singular form of the noun.


texts: hypothetically speaking vs theoretically speaking

texts:
"They say the sky is blue"......hypothetically speaking or theoretically speaking (which is the right phrase to use if you thinking of evoking a debate on the matter).

If am thinking its any colour but blue.


texts: Is it acceptable to have a period inside and outside of a quotation mark, if the inner period should be specifically specified in a quote?

texts:
For example, say I needed to specify that the following sentence should be written exactly as it appears: Use eye protection.

Example: The statement previously appeared in the document as "Use eye protection.".

In this situation, I would expect that I should need the inner period to specify that the period within the quotation marks is necessary and the second period is needed to signify that my sentence is finished.

Is this correct?


texts: What’s the word(s) that means a person who stands for something only for the recognition?

texts:
A person who probably doesn’t care about the issue but will say they support it in order to get popularity/recognition/etc.
The only thing I can thing of is politician and campaign promises or hypocrite. But both don’t quite fit.
He never cared about the bees until it was trending, he’s such a/so _____.
She is only started supporting the movement in order to get votes, after the election she’ll stop, all politicians are such a/so _____.


texts:
In a comment on a previous post, a member explained to me:

  that a complex transitive verb (or clause) is defined as one that has a direct object and a complement that specifically relates to the object, called an object complement. The object complement may be a noun phrase (They elected him president) or an adjective phrase (They painted the house red).

On that basis, are the following sentences complex clauses (and is the last one a complex ditransitive)?

1) He was impressive as he stood up there on the platform.

2) No one in this room considered me an individual.

3) I couldn’t get it out of my mind that something was wrong.

For example, sentence (2) seems to have an object complement an individual which describes a potential description of me.


texts: What is the equivalent of "dead tree copy" for CDs?

texts:
The expression "dead tree copy" is a slightly pejorative way of referring to a (physical) printed book, as opposed to an ebook.

I was wondering if there is a similar expression that could be applied to CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and other physical media for music, movies or games.


texts: Which is correct? If I was or If I were for this particular sentence

texts:
Which is correct?
1) If I were a little taller, I would be able to reach the top of the shelf.
2) If I was a little taller, I would be able to reach the top of the shelf.


texts: Idiomatic meaning or allusion of "twirl a mustache"

texts:
“I have a mustache but I have  not started to twirl it yet”
What is the implication of having a mustache, but not yet twirling it?


texts: What is the generic term for a thing that is being 'replied to'?

texts:
When I 'reply' to something (a person, an email, etc.), the thing I produce through the action is a 'reply' (or a 'response'). Is there a generic term (noun) for the thing that the reply/response is replying to?

For some more context, I'm trying to choose a word for a database column for the 'parent' of a comment which is a reply to another comment (ie the next in the comment thread). This also implies a chain of comments rather than a bunch of comments all referring to a single 'conversation root'.

An example (that has a very obvious non-generic answer) would be: As you navigate through the conversation tree of comments, click the 'back' link to view the ___________ to which that particular reply was in response.

Some examples that I'm not (entirely) happy with:

original_comment
parent
reply_to


texts: Is "[verbing] you a [noun] as [adjective] as you are" grammatically sound?

texts:
Is "[verbing] you a [noun] as [adjective] as you" grammatically sound?

ie, "Wishing you a day as lovely as you."

I think it is, but the first part of the sentence "Wishing you a day" feels off.

Does changing the end to "...as you are" fix it?


texts: "He was so desperate that he would have given anything" vs. "that he did give anything"

texts:
A: I heard he promised to buy her anything she wants.
  B: Right. He was so desperate that he would have given anything to win her over.

In sentence B, instead of "would have given," is "did give" correct as well?

Why is "would have given" more appropriate?


texts:
I saw a news article on ABC news that made the claim that "if you go back far enough in time", the word 'black' used to mean 'white' and has the same origins as the French blanc and English bleach.

My searches suggest the closest match to this claim is the Proto-Indo-European *bhleg- ("to burn, gleam, shine, flash") - where 'gleam' and 'flash' could conceivably relate to a lighter colour, but given ancient Latin (flagrare) and Greek (phlegein) related words apparently also had the sense of something burnt, I'd be inclined to think this is not the most common use.  Burnt, scorched stuff is black.

Etymology online states that: According to OED: "In ME. it is often doubtful whether blac, blak, blake, means 'black, dark,' or 'pale, colourless, wan, livid.' ", but then says: Used of dark-skinned people in Old English.

So, did 'black' actually ever mean 'white' (as opposed to colourless, or shiny), and is it related to blanc or is the claim in the news article a bit dubious?


texts: What's the difference between a quarter and a district?

texts:
All I want to know about these words is their meaning difference and how they are used in sentences...
(If you can give me examples it would be great :))


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to report a rumour using the conditional ('would be', 'would have') to express the simple present ('is', 'has')?

Supposing that the story is not a confirmed fact regarding a royal family's new carriage:

  According to press report, the royal family has a new carriage.

To avoid possible accusations of getting the facts wrong, could we reword the sentence above as follows?

  According to press report, the royal family would have a new
  carriage.

Would that be grammatically correct?


texts: What's an alternative idiom to "rob Peter to pay Paul?"

texts:
I'm looking for an alternative to the phrase, but I can't seem to figure any out.

What's an alternative to "rob Peter to pay Paul?"


texts: Length of English sentences in comparison to German ones

texts:
Today I've heard that when writing an English text, I should try not to use too long sentences.

Not because they are easier to write without grammatical mistakes, but because it'd be typical for the English language to prefer shorter sentences over long, nestled sub-sentences.

Being a German native speaker, this took me by surprise. When writing German texts, I always try to connect sentences, and prefer one with a sub-sentence over two separated sentences.

Unfortunately, I got this advice without a reference to a specific example where I might have used a sentence that's too long, so I can only ask this question in general.


texts: What is a word to describe a flood of positive emotions when confronted with a trigger from a past experience?


texts: How do we grammatically describe 'thing'

texts:
There's a thing I'd like to ask, it's something you might know.

When we say "bring me that thing over there" or "it's with my things", how do we grammatically classify this use of thing in English? In neurology it is thought of as a symptom of anomic aphasia, but I'm searching for a grammatical category.

I've looked up filler word, but that seems to be for things like um and ah. A placeholder seems to be for Joe Bloggs and widgets. Cambridge Dictionary classifies it as a vague expression, but that seems a bit vague. Circumlocution is too broad a category as well. A substitution, as I understand it, is a term from discourse analysis that explains use of one, so and do to avoid repetition. Ellipsis is substitution with a null expression. So where does that leave us with this use of thing? Of all these, I'd probably opt for substitution, but that seems to be not quite correct. Maybe 'substitute noun' or 'noun substitution'? But this doesn't seem quite elegant. Is there a generally accepted term to describe this occurrence?


texts:
Soon after she encountered the experience while proceeding to New Delhi, the Thoothukudi MP  had tweeted, “Today at the airport a CISF officer asked me if I am an Indian, when I asked her to speak to me in Tamil or in English as I did not know Hindi. I would like to know from when being Indian is equal to knowing Hindi.”

I asked some people about use of "had" in this sentence and they said that this is an incorrect use of past perfect and it could be right in Indian English. I don't understand it. Does "had" have a different use in indian english?


texts: Is the word 'cocksure' considered informal, non-PC, or even vulgar?

texts:
None of the following resources seem to think so: Merriam-Webster, The Free Dictionary, Oxford Dictionaries, Collins.

But Cambridge Dictionaries Online says it is informal.

And it appears on Urban Dictionary, which tends to signal something.


texts: What is it called when a snake is showing its head when angry?

texts:
What is the apt word to be used when a snake has its head looking straight towards us and shows its tongue outside vociferously, probably when it is about to bite?

As user @J.R. suggested "mesmerizes" seems to be somewhat near. But I need something more than that, especially when like the snake is in a attempting position to bite someone.


texts:
I want to ask someone, "Describe the perfect girlfriend/boyfriend" but I don't want to be so hetero-normative. So I'm looking for a simple gender-neutral/gender-inclusive equivalent for boyfriend/girlfriend, like 'spouse' is for wife/husband.

I can only think of:

Significant Other (SO)
Partner (not the best for just dating, though)

Those both feel kind of stiff. Are there any others that I'm not aware of, possibly more casual? Particularly ones that would be easy to explain to non-native English speakers?


texts: Omitting subject or be verb in the second clause

texts:
Which one is the most natural?

Such set is called an empty set and it is denoted by 0.
Such set is called an empty set and is denoted by 0.
Such set is called an empty set and denoted by 0.


texts: 'last but foremost' - mixture of 'last but not least' and 'first and foremost'

texts:
I found '...last but foremost...' with google in some texts, which seems to be some combination of 'last but not least' and 'first and foremost'.
Seems to suggest that while something is mentioned last, it is yet the most important thing. Can it be used like this? does it sound right for a native speaker?


texts: Noun meaning "an advertisment that poses as news"

texts:
This type of ad has always been around, but newpapers and magazines would put the word "advertising" nearby. Some websites are not being so scrupulous. The ads are headlined and written like a news story, but always carefully name the product and supplier somewhere near the end.

Is there a word that designates this kind of ad?

Sample: I was hooked by that _____ selling snake-oil as a cure for cancer.


texts: Inverted commas or italics when you mouth something

texts:
I am wondering if it is better to use inverted commas or italics when you mouth something, rather than say it aloud.

E.g.

I cover the receiver and mouth Sorry to my friend.

Or is it better to go with:

I cover the receiver and mouth "Sorry" to my friend.

I am also wondering if Sorry should even have a capital letter or if it should be a small letter. Any thoughts?

Also, if someone's words sound in your head at some point later in a novel, should they be put in italics or inverted commas?

E.g.

I think back to what Jane told me yesterday: "He'll always be haunted by her."

Or:

I think back to what Jane told me yesterday. He'll always be haunted by her.

Any thoughts on what would be best would be greatly appreciated. I have checked the Chicago style guide and am still unsure.

Thank you.


texts:
What is the meaning of "he was there" in this sentence?

  It had taken him a while to talk himself out of his compunctions about this shocking notion, but by the mid-1950 he was there.


texts:
What's the difference between "case by case" and "case to case"?

I often hear the former from my Japanese students. When I asked them where they got the phrase, they always say they learned it from their high school grammar lessons.


texts:
Aware that such a beast may not exist in the wild, I've painted myself into a corner in a naming scheme which now requires an antonym to hapax legomenon.

What is to be done?


texts: What's the phrase for food burning and sticking to the pan?

texts:
When cooking neglectfully, food sometimes burns and sticks to the pan (or pot, or whatever one is cooking in). What is this phenomenon called in English?

  Darn it! The spaghetti <stuck to the pot>!

Is there an idiomatic expression?


texts: What kind of rhetoric is (this particular) "No one ever [...]"

texts:
The President also knows that we have to stop blaming victims for these crimes.  No one ever asks the person who got robbed at gunpoint in the street -- why were you there, what were you doing, what were you wearing?  What did you say?  Did you offend someone?  We encourage people to come forward.  We don't have to explain why someone took our money.

Source

I think the "No one ever [...]" claim is literally false, and actually obviously so. So, I understand it to mean:

    The President also knows that we have to stop blaming victims for these crimes.  No one in their right mind ever asks the person who got robbed at gunpoint in the street -- why were you there, what were you doing, what were you wearing?  What did you say?  Did you offend someone?  We encourage people to come forward.  We don't have to explain why someone took our money.

Supposing that I am right, what is this kind of rhetoric called?


texts: I am currently taking linguistics and am required to tutor a student based on errors within a writing sample she has provided me. Currently, I am developing activities for determining when to use recently vs. lately but upon writing sentences myself I realize as a native speaker I can choose what sounds better to me but i can't put into words why one is the better choice. Any advice?


texts: Term for two people doing something thinking it pleases the other

texts:
Is there a term or an idiom for a situation where two (or more people) are doing something only because they think the other person wants it. They themselves may dislike or be neutral about it.

An example would be two people going to a concert even though neither enjoys the particular band, but they're under the assumption that the other one enjoys it.


texts: Role of "the" in "the one thing that can be done is to provide opportunity"?

texts:
In the extract

  The one thing that can be done is to provide opportunity, without repining at the waste that results from most men failing to make good use of the opportunity.

does removing the emboldened article "the" cause any change in the meaning? As far as I know, "one" is a determiner for "thing" and so "one thing that can be done" is a valid noun phrase.


texts:
In the quote below (taken from here), what does "cash down payment" mean?

  Indeed, a few weeks before they left the White House, the Clintons
  were able to muster a cash down payment of $855,000 and secure a
  $1.995 million mortgage. This hardly fits the common meaning of "dead
  broke. We rated the claim Mostly False.


texts:
Here's a list of examples I've seen:

  What do you think happened?
  Who do you think has killed him?
  Who do you think he killed?

How does this structure what/who do you think... work? It seems a bit odd that you've got happened after think in the first example, has killed after think in the second. In third, who and what have got nothing to do with the first clause in the sentence but with the second. Can it be used in the past and in the future? "Who did you think (had) killed him?  Who do you think will call him?"

Apparently it can appear in the middle of any question when someone asks an opinion. Is that so? Are there more structures like this?


texts: Doesn't number affect pronoun agreement?

texts:
I saw the sentence: "the crowd took its guns and its swords" in French the other day; now I'm wondering if it's right in English. Since the crowd is singular, why do we say "their guns and their swords"?
This question is asking about pronoun agreement. The linked-to answer concerns verb agreement. In addition the answers there say that verb agreement may be driven by pronoun agreement later in the verb phrase! So it seems that the answers there presuppose the possible existence of plural pronouns, but don't say when or why PRONOUNS (not verbs) should be plural in the case of mass nouns.


texts: Prepositions, determiners and english grammar

texts:
How did you get _____ such a rare book? Please fill in the blank with the appropriate preposition.

I think it can either be 'by' or 'across' but I am not sure. Also I think that the 'get' there is incorrect but should be replaced by 'come'?


texts:
I need to reduce "Is it required?" to a single word for an input label in a web form and also for a column name in the database. Any suggestions what to name the field?

  Enter field name |____________|

  Requiredness <radio-field>
  O YES
  O No
  O Recommended

.

+--------------+--------------+--------------+
               |              |Requiredness  |
+--------------+--------------+--------------+
               |              |yes           |
               |              |no            |
               |              |recommended   |

Is Requiredness a right word here? Any more suggestions?


texts: What's the name for this kind of writing?

texts:
I recently 'fell in love' with reading after receiving a book.

Now that I've finished reading it, I'm looking for books with that kind of writing. I've Googled for similar books from the same author, but reviews suggest that they're not as good.

Anyway, now here's my real question:

What is this kind of writing (or style?) called? I just love how they express (is that the correct word?) themselves or maybe it's because it's a little 'deep'. It's just so hard to describe!

[Taken from book]

  He swept the floor and lay down, using the book he had just finished reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books: they lasted longer, and made more comfortable pillows.

  He aroused... He had noticed that, as soon as he awoke, most of his animals also begin to stir. "They are so used to me that they know my schedule", he muttered. Thinking for a moment, he realised that it could be the other way round: that it was he who had become accustomed to their schedule.

What exactly is the name for this kind of writing?

Edit:I guess the correct term is the self conversations right?


texts: Usage of articles with biological terminology

texts:
In the following sentence

  The hippocampus plays an important role in the formation of emotion
  and memory consolidation.

my teacher pointed out that article The in front of the word hippocampus is incorrect, and A should be used instead. As in

  A hippocampus plays an important role in the formation of emotion
  and memory consolidation.

I disagree. Who do you think is right?


texts: The word or term for inserting the wrong word into conversation

texts:
What is the term for incorrectly injecting the wrong word into conversation because of a mental flaw that pulls a word that is alliterative or related? An example that got me searching for the term:

  A well trained bicycle mechanic will be able to judge the correct temperature of spokes by ear.

What I meant was tension of course. In this case I was able to recognize that the wrong word was used, leading to a tip-of-the-tongue syndrome thing where I attempted to come up with the correct word.

I guess the word or term I'm looking for is the term that would best describe an unconscious substitution of a word into normal conversation that could fall into the domain of tip-of-the-tongue syndrome, and whatever the related transactional memory defects are that cause it.


texts: The proper usage (or avoidance) of "former" & "latter" when context involves a logical evaluation?

texts:
In cases where a sentence involves a logical evaluation, e.g., ...

  ... Is it improper to do [this], rather than to do [that]?

...is there any convention on the usage of "former" vs "latter"?  For example, to reference [that]...

  In the case of the ______ ...

...would one use "former" or "latter" here?  At first glance, I thought "latter" since it refers to the tail-end of the referenced sentence, but then on second thought, I thought maybe I should use "former" instead because the logical evaluation resolves as true in the former portion of the referenced sentence, i.e., "it is improper, therefore...".  Or should I just avoid the usage altogether in this specific context?


texts:
In the sentence below the word "easy" and "easier" are used.  Is it okay to make this sentence?

  "Because it is easy to make the characters bigger, it's easier to read it."


texts: Meaning of "Spoil Yourself Silly on a Shoestring"

texts: What does Spoil Yourself Silly on a Shoestring mean? It is the title of a chapter of the book I'm reading.


texts: "headquarters of" vs. "headquarters for"... is there a difference?

texts:
Is there a difference between "headquarters of" and "headquarters for"?

It is the headquarters of many branches.
It is the headquarters for many branches.
It is the headquarters of the party.
It is the headquarters for the party.

Intuitively, "for many branches" seems correct and "of the party" seems correct.  I can explain the conceptual difference between branches and party, but I can't connect my intuition to any rules.  Any thoughts on this? Thanks.


texts: Single English Word for "to make more concise"?

texts:
I'm writing a review of Richard Lanham's Revising Prose.

  Revising Prose provides detailed examples and tutorials that will help you clarify, simplify, and make your writing more concise.

What word can I use to replace "make your writing more concise"?


texts: In the present tense, can I use "ought to have" where "have" means "to possess"?

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker.

All the examples of "ought to have" in my grammar book are in the past tense.  But can I use it in the present tense to say that someone probably has something?

  I ought to have time tomorrow to meet you (I should have time tomorrow to meet you).


texts: Is there a verb for "doing the wrong thing by force of habit"

texts:
I sometimes find myself doing something I did not intend, just because the force of habit is so strong.   For instance: On the way back from work, turning toward home instead of the grocery store, even though I was planning on doing the shopping.  Or tossing the newspaper in the recycling bin right after my wife asked me to save an article for her.

Is there a verb for this behavior? As in "Sorry, I just {screwed up by habit}."


texts:
Is there a word which describes the experience of not being able to comprehend new sensory input?

Specifically, I am trying to find a word which describes my experience whenever I listen to a new Chopin piece: though generally highly harmonic and melodic, his pieces are often so complex that I cannot discern their harmony or melody at first, they sound disorganized. But after a few listenings, they comes into focus and I can see that contrary to being disorganized, their organization is so complex that I am unable to comprehend them at first.

For those who are not musically inclined, I think a similar experience would be that of a blind person who receives sight but is disoriented at first / not able to comprehend the new sensory input person who has never seen or even heard of the ocean coming to it for the first time: I image they would not know how to process what they were seeing for some time.


texts: What car should I buy or which car should I buy, what's the most correct one


texts: Term for concern about changing or correcting quotations: "scholarly accuracy"?

texts:
Collaborator A is concerned that when he and Collaborator B quote some published material in a formal letter, they should be careful not to change any of the quoted text.  What do you call this concern?  "Scholarly accuracy?"

Example sentence for an email to Collaborator A:

  Well, when putting together quotes from published material, there will be quotation marks and attributions to sources.  If an error is detected in the original material, clarifying text can be inserted in brackets.  (Example 1, Example 2.)  Thus, it is possible to make corrections and still avoid lapses in scholarly accuracy.

Is the part in bold a correct description of the concern, and if not, what is this called?


texts:
I am just confused about using "prior to". As I understand, after the word "to", we always use a verb with "ing". However, I read that we can use "prior to " with a verb without "ing".
For example, which of the following sentences is correct and why?

1- Prior to introduce the method of ....
2- Prior to introducing the method of ...

Could someone help me to understand what is the correct one and why, please?


texts:
I've noticed a tendency in recent technical literature to use feminine pronouns, instead of the more traditional masculine. For example one might write she [the user] enters her password. It's not difficult to see how this may come to be in the age of political correctness, but I always found it quite amusing. To countervail, some computer scientists have started calling the motherboard "fatherboard", which is even funnier.

Which brings me to my question: When I write technical documentation, I use the plural them or their with a singular user. For example, I might write something along the lines of the user enters their password, in an attempt to sound vague and non gender-identifying, while at the same time preserving the notion of the user as a person. While this sounds acceptable to my foreign ears, it occurs to me that I might be severely abusing the language.

Is my usage of their in this context correct?
Is there something else that I can use in its place?


texts: Does the idiom "in check" come from chess?

texts:
I was recently arguing with a friend that the idiom "in check" comes from chess. With the meaning that keeping someone or something "in check" restrains its choices and limits its actions, this seems to match the chess meaning. (When you are in check, you have to save your king and hence cannot make any other moves.)

However, I could not find a suitable etymology to prove this. It's also possible that both come from a common meaning of restraint.

Is there evidence that this idiom comes from chess?


texts: What's the difference between "selfkill" and "suicide"?

texts: I think selfkill is often used in games and suicide in real life. Is that correct?


texts: Word/Phrase which could replace "serious" in "he was serious" in the context of telling the truth

texts:
Edit:

I want replace the word "serious" with a phrase or word of a similar meaning in the following context:

  Upon hearing what he had to say, I thought he was playing games with me, but he was serious.

I am looking for a word that has the same gravity as "serious" but more negative connotations, similar to "grave". But I find that "grave" doesn't fit particularly well within the above example.


texts: Short alternatives of the word Authentication and the word Authorisation

texts:
As a programmer I use the word Authentication and the word Authorisation in my code.

I'd like to find nice abbreviations or alternative words for each of them that

are not ambiguous and
has reasonably large 'psychological distance' between. i.e. they don't look too similar

i.e 'Auth' is not OK because it is ambiguous.

At the moment I have just removed some letters

Authtictn
Authristn

Any suggestions?

Update: Since this question is now under threat I have moved it's gist to:

http://www.eatmybusiness.com/food/2014/02/08/short-alternatives-of-the-word-authentication-and-the-word-authorisation/272/


texts:
Although hijab is not an English word, it is commonly used in English to describe the head scarf worn by many Moslem women.

I was pretty sure I had just heard Christiane Amanpour of CNN call the plural "hijub", and that made me go to look up the correct plural.

There seems to be a disagreement among different sources.

WordForum calls the plural hujub (singular hijab)

Wikionary says it is hijabs.

In a case like this, where the original language has a plural different from a usage in English, which should be used? [I am aware of the precedents set by Greek plurals, and I would like to side-step all that.]


texts: Idiom to mean "one must avoid going into dangerous situations"

texts:
In my native language, there's an idiom that someone warn you not to go into a dangerous situation when you're sure you'll get into trouble but you still feel like doing it. For instance, making jokes about your boss at work because he/she has shamed you in public. One of your co-workers might say:

  Don't play with lion's tail!

Is there an English idiom for such a situation?


texts: "The earthquake, along with its subsequent aftershocks, HAS/HAVE ..." - plural or singular subject?

texts:
Is a subject singular or plural with a modifying prepositional phrase that has plural objects?

Would it be "has" or "have" in this case:

  The earthquake, along with its subsequent aftershocks, has/have created an atmosphere of panic among the city's residents.


texts:
In my experience the phrase "I get that" appeared in the last 5-10 years and has picked up a lot.   I see it used often in television and movies. Contrast that with "I get it" which has been around for as long as I can remember.

Both phrases generally mean "I understand", although "I get that" is usually used as an immediate reply to another's statement.

Does anyone know more about this linguistic variant, its origin and usage? (Side note, I kind of can't stand it)


texts: When and why did the number reading order change

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  19th century English texts occasionally use germanic-style number words, such as “four-and-twenty”. When did this fall out of use?

In Arabic and even in several European languages (e.g. German) one reads the lower ranks digit first.

German => 24 is read vierundzwanzig
Arabic => 24 (٢٤) is read Arba3aton wa 3echroun" (أربعةٌ وعشرون).

In Old English you find the same order:

Old English => 24 is read féower ond twentig.
Present Day English => twenty four.

So it looks like the reading order has changed at some point.  The question is: why and when ?


texts: Word that means 'able to produce the same amount of output with less input"

texts:
If I improve a process to increase output per input, I can then do two things:

increase total output for the same total input

maintain total output by lowering total input

I'm looking for a word that means the second option.
Example:
Bob improved our combustion engine performance by X miles per gallon. We are then able to reduce fuel tank size by Y gallons, giving drivers the same range as before. Our vehicle is now more _____.
"Efficient" doesn't seem quite right. I would describe the engine as efficient. To me efficiency is about ratio.  I'm looking for a word that specifically means changes to total input, contrasting changes to total output:
Bob improved our combustion engine performance by X miles per gallon. Our existing fuel tank gives drivers an increased range of Y miles. Our vehicle is now more _____.
"Effective" is my best option so far.


texts: Is sentence No3 a fragment that needs to be attatched to No2?

texts:
Have you seen the movie "Dirty Dancing"?

It's a 1987 American romantic drama, a feel‐good film for people of all ages.

Is the above sentence now a comma splice?


texts: Is there a word for when suffixes are overly co-opted into new words?

texts:
For example:

Alcoholic -- Alcohol means... well, alcohol. The suffix "-ic" means "of or pertaining to"

Chocoholic -- Choco: a shortened form of "chocolate". The suffix "-holic" seemingly means "addicted to", though the suffix "-ic" is all that is required to denote this according to the previous example.

Is there an etymological term for this "suffix merging" that occurs? (bonus points for finding more examples of this)

Edit for Clarity

Here's an article from grammarist describing this in more detail. "Alcoholic" was coined as a combination of "alcohol" and "-ic". Then, in the 20th century, the suffix "-holic" took on the meaning of "addicted to". E.g., "shopaholic", "workaholic", "golfaholic", etc.

Is there a word for when suffixes merge into words they are modifying in this manner?

Edit #2

Another example: helicopter comes from the greek “helix” or spiral, and “pter” or “flying” yet “-copter” is the suffix used for spinning blade flying things like “quadcopter”. Of course “quadpter” doesn’t really make sense in English, but I’m interested in a term to describe the combination of “helix” and “pter” becoming a new suffix


texts: Can a statement be both negative and positive after saying "Whatever you do..."?

texts:
Sometimes you are given advice. Sometimes in the form of

What ever you do, statement

Can this statement be both positive and negative? E.g.

Whatever you do, don't take off your seat belt while driving.
Whatever you do, keep your seat belt on while driving.
Whatever you do, don't ignore your customers.
Whatever you do, always listen to your customers.

The positive statements seem odd.


texts: Does the theory that "sincerely" originated from "without wax" hold any merit?

texts:
I've read somewhere that there is a folklore origin of the word, sincere. In ancient Spain during the Renaissance era, when the sculptors working overtime made any mistakes, they used wax or cera to hide the defects in their works. However, when exposed to full sunlight, the wax used to dissolve and their faults became apparent. Thus, sculptures without any defects came to be known as sin-cera, Spanish for "without wax" and later on, it originated the English word, sincere.

However, mainstream English scholars don't accept this theory. As is apparent from a Google search, the usual answer you get is that sincere is derived from the latin sincerus for pure or clean.

Sincerely, what actually is the origin of the word sincerely?


texts:
In my university publications, I notice that many enumerations use "as well" [1] instead of "and" [2]. Is this just to make the text look more sophisticated or is there a real semantic difference? When should I use one or the other?

[1] "The algorithm can process text as well as binary files."

[2] "The algorithm can process text and binary files."


texts:
I'm a software developer and a linguistics fan. In SQL syntax, there's a command named COALESCE, which does a simple thing (quote from here):

  It simply goes through all the parameters one by one, and returns the
  first that is NOT NULL.

COALESCE(NULL, NULL, NULL, 1, 2, 3)
=> 1

COALESCE(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, NULL)
=> 1

From what I see in dictionaries, "Coalesce" means "unite", or "blend", or "merge", etc. I can't see the connection between those definitions to COALESCE operation.

Is there another meaning to this word?

Edit: Thanks to Janus comment, I searched a bit more and found a similiar post on StackOverflow answering this.


texts: What is the grammatical function of the NP (or clause?) in this sentence?

texts:
I just came across this sentence in a newspaper:

  The mill ceased production in 1982, an early warning of another revolution on a global scale.

I know it is a perfectly grammatical sentence and I've seen a lot of similar ones. But I'm wondering what grammatical function the latter NP (or clause?) plays. It looks like a relative clause without "which is", right? Does this grammatical role have a name?


texts: Single-word verb which means "to make more obvious"

texts:
What single-word verb should I use to mean "to make more obvious"?

Here's the sentence in which I want to use such word:

"Our company wants to ___________ our online presence.


texts: are "all-male" and "all-female" opposites of androgynous?

texts:
In the book The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, the residents of a planet are all androgynous. Then a male human, named "Genly", arrives to this planet. I am looking for a word for his sexuality in comparison to the androgynes.

If a society has both females and males, can we call the women "all-female" when compared to androgynes?


texts: Hyphen between 2 words when prefix is in front of the 2 words

texts:
What's the correct way to put a prefix in front of something that's 2 or more words?
Pre-Neolithic Revolution or pre-Neolithic-Revolution
Pro-affirmative action or pro-affirmative-action
Post-Civil War or post-Civil-War
Non-high school or non-high-school (student)


texts: What does the "yours" in "yours sincerely" mean?

texts: "Yours" is usually a possessive pronoun with an implicit noun. What is the implicit noun in the case of "yours sincerely"?


texts: What's the difference between "method" and "fashion" when they both mean the ways you doing something?

texts: In the dictionary,"fashion" means that if you do something in a particular fashion or after a particular fashion, you do it in that way.So what's the special for "fashion"?


texts:
“The reviewers said it was the work of a craftsman: that was all that was left me of what had been a passion.”
I’m a little confused by the “left me of” structure in the second sentence. Could anyone help clarify? Thanks.


texts:
Spermatozoon is a single mature sperm cell. The plural is spermatozoa.

Which of the following is correct: "Spermatozoal motility" or "spermatozoan motility"? Or should it be something else?

Googling seems to find both "spermatozoal" and "spermatozoan".


texts: Meaning of the adverb 'differently' and its position

texts:
Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to see things differently without having to reinterpret the object's properties.

Is differently referring to we see or things?


texts: Shorter alternatives to "staying up-to-date"

texts: Is this kind of bad foreign English or it would be correct to say "to keep yourself up-to-date"/"informed" when subscribing, e.g., a twitter or a RSS feed? Is there a single verb/adjective/shorter synonym for saying your knowledge is constantly updated/on a current level? Is there anything suited for keyword/tag usage?


texts: Difference between willst and wilt in Shakespearean?

texts:
I am writing a scene from Macbeth detailing the battle before the play for my 11th grade English class, and I decided to write it in Shakespearean for fun. I have been trying to figure out the difference between willst and wilt. Everything, I have found tells me that they are alternating and second singular tense and that is all I have found. Is it anything to the effect of hast and hath? Where hath means has and hast means have?

I could REALLY use some help if someone can give me some, thanks :)


texts: On the usage of the phrase "an enormous fund of time"

texts:
In an English translation of Haruki Murakami's story "Sleep",
there is a sentence that goes like this: What, then, of the enormous fund of time I had consumed back then reading books?

The original Japanese means that she is wondering about what became of all that time she had spent reading. (She had been a voracious reader but is realizing she doesn't remember much of what she read.)

My question is this: to a native English speaker, does the phrase "enormous fund of time" come across as being unusual? weird? Or is it okay (perhaps because "fund" is used with the verb "consume"... but do you even say "consume a fund")?

Tomoko


texts: What does the most common usage of 'Korea' mean in modern-day English-speaking world?

texts:
On Meta.Travel.SE, we have a debate whether our 'Korea' tag should be mapped to 'South Korea'. One of the answers - from the moderator who made the synonym mapping - is that common usage of the word 'Korea' often refers to South Korea the country rather than Korea the region, and when people refer to the political entity of North Korea, they specifically use the 'North' qualifier.

I ran a search on Google's Ngram Viewer on their corpus for period 1940-2008 which shows the frequency of usage of 'Korea' vs 'South Korea' vs 'North Korea'. As you can see, 'South Korea' and 'North Korea' as terms are pretty close, with 'Korea' being the more widely used word.

My question is this: in modern-day usage - not historical - what is the word 'Korea' most commonly understood to mean - the region as a whole or just South Korea?

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not asking what synonym mapping to use on Travel.SE. What I'm more interested in knowing is that in English-language usage, what sense is 'Korea' most commonly used to mean.


texts: What is a word to describe something that will need to be squashed, compacted, or reduced?

texts:
In programming, it is common while working to collect a set of very small changes.  Before those changes are added permanently to the code base, they will be "squashed" together so that they are easy to understand as a coherent whole.
I am looking for a word that describes these changes before they are combined.
How can I describe a thing or set of things that need to be, in the indeterminate future, combined, squashed, or generally reduced down?
For a non programming example:

"Are those clothes ready to be packed?"
"No, they're _______"

The intention is to suggest that the pile needs to be made smaller before being ready.
Since this is a word that I'm looking to user over and over again in personal notes, brevity and conciseness is fairly important.
Edit: I'm looking for a word that me and my coworkers can use to tag/mark work that needs to be reduced.  Currently we're using "squash later," which is pretty concise, but academically I'm curious if there is an even shorter (one word) expression that could be used.


texts:
My understanding is that semicolons are used to separate independent clauses of a sentence, and also to delimit a list wherein one or more members contain a comma.

Regarding the first usage, my understanding is that an independent clause can stand on its own as a complete sentence.  Something like "It's getting late; we should head home."

I'm having a bit of trouble squaring that with this sentence from page 1 of Eats, Shoots & Leaves

  By all means congratulate yourself
  that you are not a pedant or even a
  stickler; that you are happily
  equipped to live in a world of
  plummeting punctuation standards; but
  just don't bother to go any further.

Being a mere computer nerd visiting here from Stackoverflow, I was hoping some of you English gurus could help me understand how "that you are happily equipped..." and "but just don't bother to go any further" can qualify as complete sentences.  Both, and particularly the latter seem like fragments.


texts: "At the right time" vs "at a right time"

texts:
Tell me please what is the difference between the following sentences.

  It is totally fine to add suplementary exercises to the main lifts. Just do it at the right time.

  It is totally fine to add suplementary exercises to the main lifts. Just do it at a right time.

I heard the latter in a podcast where two native speakers discussed strength training. I was totally confused because I thought that only the definite article could be used before words like right, or wrong. If the second one is also right, then what shade of meaning does it bear?


texts: Could have been disappointed - is that a correct usage of could have been?

texts:
It is to my understanding that 'could have been' talks about a possible present situation that have not happened but is possible in the present and should be followed by a verb in a continuous form.
In the context of - "I'm glad I have bought the product before the sale because the price is worse now. If I didn't buy it back than, I could have been disappointed." - am I using could have been correctly?


texts:
I've read about a Dutch volunteer, who died in Syria "fighting with the rebels". Obviously from the context you could understand, that he was fighting for the rebels, against the government troops. Article was written by non-native speaker.

Is "to fight with" ambiguous and can be used both as "to fight for" and "to fight against"? Or is is unambiguous and only "to fight against" is the only valid interpretation?


texts: What is the accepted convention for transcribing audio speech dysfluencies and repeated utterances?

texts:
If this question belongs in another topic, refer me to the correct site.
I came across some transcripts in which the text says

ah

When the audio actually says

uh.

Another example is when the person says, 'no' multiple times. Instead of writing it several times, it is written as

no, no, no no, etc.

Wgat's the reason behind these? Is there a type of grammar audio-to-text transcribers use?


texts: If indolent means causing little or no pain, is there a word that means causing a lot of pain or passing out/death

texts:
I'm sure about the "causing a lot of pain" part but I don't know about what followed.

Is there a word that means "causing a lot of pain or passing out"  or "causing a lot of pain or death"?

  His condition went from healthy to indolent and then indolent to _______?


texts:
I have often heard people use the word "paramount" to mean "the most important", which I think is correct usage.

However, I have also heard them use "parmountacy" or "paramountcy".

e.g. The changes we are making establishes the paramountacy of international law in these cases.

I am wondering if there is such a word as "paramountacy"?


texts: What is the state of a license when one of the terms is no longer met?

texts:
We have a piece of software that tracks vehicles. Their license to this software determines how many vehicles they can track.

Is there a term to call the license when there are more vehicles registered than allowed by the license? Expired doesn’t really work because that seems to indicate a time constraint. Can a license be exceeded perhaps?


texts: Is the word "pathology" used only for "disease"?

texts: I wanted to ask about the exact meaning of pathology. Is it just for disease or can we use it for other things? I mean, for example, if I want to talk about the determination of harms in culture or technology, can I use the term "technology pathology" or "culture pathology"?


texts: Is “ill at ease” perfectly interchangeable with “uncomfortable”?

texts:
There was the following sentence in a series about the art and craft of writing in New York Times (April 29) written by Tim Kreider under the title, “The Power of ‘I Don’t Know’”:

  I’m always ill at ease when I find myself conscripted by the media into the role of Expert on some subject about which I have rashly written. I felt like the explanatory caption beneath my name on-screen ought to be: PERSON IN WORLD. [emphasis added]

As I checked a dictionary (OALED) at hand, it defines ill at ease as an idiom to mean
uncomfortable and embarrassed, and uncomfortable as:

  3. anxious, embarrassed or afraid and unable to relax
  4. unpleasant or difficult to deal with

Are they saying the same thing? Does ill at ease sound more familiar and at-home than uncomfortable, or are they perfectly interchangeable?


texts:
I have a question on the usage of present as a verb. Should it be always be followed by a with? Which of the following usage is legal/sounding good?

I presented my mother diamonds.
I presented my mother with diamonds.

My take is that #2 is perfect, but #1 is not invalid.


texts: Pronouns and Gender Bias // Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement

texts:
I understand pronouns and their antecedents must agree (a singular pronoun must have a singular antecedent, and a plural pronoun must have a plural antecedent). However, I can not find an elegant writing option for singular pronouns, such as someone or everyone, without sounding gender biased.

Example:

"Everyone evacuated the city because he didn't want to expose himself to the deadly virus."

The above example may be correct but will sound gender biased to modern educated readers. If readers find the writing gender biased, they will be distracted from the content of the writing; thus, the writing will be rendered ineffective.

So modern tastes dictate the following:

"Everyone evacuated the city because he/she didn't want to expose himself/herself to the deadly virus."

The second example solves the gender bias problem but introduces the problem of clunky and graceless writing. The messiness of he/she, his/her, and himself/herself distracts readers (myself included). This gender unbiased writing is equally as ineffective as gender biased writing.

Is there an elegant solution that would allow pronouns and antecedents to agree without introducing gender bias or clunky writing?


texts: "But for that man she mightn't be going to Ireland; but for that, she might have been happy."


texts: Usage of "onto' and "into" with materials

texts:
I have a sentence which means "to use a laser to transfer an image from the computer and have it be imprinted on any material; wood, plastic, glass, metal, anything else" What is the correct way I should say this?

To imprint an image onto the material?
To imprint an image into the material?

Or maybe there is some other way? Maybe with words: transfer, apply, put, embed.

I should ask as well, Is there a big difference between the two when we speak about merging two object?

Squeeze the ink into the water?

or

Squeeze the ink onto the water?


texts: Is there a term for someone who loves cute things?

texts: Such as arctophile or entomophile? Looking for something more formal sounding than 'cuteophile' or something similarly made up.


texts:
A recent Economist article (see The drug war hits Central America) uses something called a Hobbesian trap like this:

  Central America has fallen into a
  Hobbesian trap: the better-off make
  private arrangements—there are five
  times as many private security guards
  as policemen or soldiers in Guatemala,
  and four times as many in Honduras—and
  therefore block efforts to levy the
  tax revenues necessary to strengthen
  the state.

A simple Google search turns out to be unhelpful. What is this Hobbesian trap? What is the origin of it? What is a typical context where a writer can employ it?


texts:
What would be the difference between these:

Everyone of them rose from their seats.
All of them rose from their seats.
Every one of them rose from their seats.

Which one is grammatically correct? For me all are correct.
Which one is preferable and why?


texts: What's the word for "adjusting" to keep up with a change

texts:
I can't for the life of me remember this word... It's used heavily in the Star Trek series for when engineers have to make live adjustments to keep up with some changing variable. It's a verb and would fit into this sentence:

  The font sizes were increased, so I adjusted the label placements to <blank>

I have associated the words "accommodate", "recuperate" and "adjust" with it


texts: In "stick something on", is "on" an adverb or a preoposition?

texts:
Basically what title says. I've been trying to find this on google but I have not found anything. I just know that on is an adverb when it "modifies a verb", but in this scenario I am not really sure.

An example comes from here: "should I stick the stamp on?".


texts: In a regular sentence, I could add more information by using dashes - like this - or commas ,like this, but what if I want to do that in a list?

texts:
I'm writing a story where only certain people know something about my MC. I list the people like this:

  Only my coaches, my best friend - Alicia, who’s also my cousin -, and
  her parents.

I add more info about my MC's best friend, and using commas would make it confusing and make it seem like the info is another list item, but using dashes doesn't look right because then I have this:

  -,

Is there any other solution or is using dashes the correct way to do it?


texts: Word to describe when a person is interrupted by a trivial correction, distracting from the point?

texts:
Is there a word for a "technically accurate correction, but one that nobody needed.  Something that causes a digression, which may or may not have been an attempt to diminish the original point by making it seemed flawed"?

I think there should be.

Red Herring doesn't seem to fit, because the context isn't a debate. A specialist of any type (Grammar, English, engineering, science, history, etc) are prone to making this mistake in mixed company.


texts: Word order in a which clause with the phrase "there are"

texts: If sb. told us which kinds of duck exist in this are, should we rather say that "he told us which kinds of duck there are", or that "he told us which kinds of duck are there"? Sorry to bother you for this silly question, but for some reason I find it too confusing to decide....


texts:
I am wondering if there is a word that characterizes this specific type of question.

Given this series of questions, it would be understood that one must continue answering if the answer is no, or stop once the answer is yes.

Example (the question type would imply the parenthetical instructions):

  Can you do A? (If no, proceed. If yes, stop.)
  (If no,) Can you do B? (If no, proceed. If yes, stop.)
  (If no,) Can you do C? (If no, proceed. If yes, stop.)

  The following is a [TYPE] question:

  In forum X, can I post a message about jobs?
  In forum X, can I post a message asking about forums where I can post about jobs?
  Can I get some information about a forum where I can post a message about jobs?


texts: "The lyrics to the song" vs. "the lyrics of the song"

texts:
Do you remember the lyrics to the song?
  Do you remember the lyrics of the song?

I'm more familiar with the second sentence using the "of". But what I don't know is, how would you interpret both of these sentences in the grammatical sense? Do both of these sentences express a relation between lyrics and songs?


texts: What is the meaning of “Fly pleasures, and they’ll follow you”?

texts:
On Page 287 of the 1758 version of Poor Richard's Almanac, we find this paragraph:

  Methinks I hear some of you say, Must a Man afford himself no Leisure? ---- I will tell thee, my Friend, what Poor Richard says, Employ thy Time well if thou meanest to gain Leisure; and, since thou art not
  sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour. Leisure is Time for doing something useful; this Leisure the
  diligent Man will obtain, but the lazy Man never; so that, as Poor Richard says, a Life of Leisure and a
  Life of Laziness are two Things. Do you imagine that Sloth will afford you more Comfort than Labor? No, for as Poor Richard says, Trouble springs from Idleness, and grievous Toil from needless Ease. Many without Labor would live by their WITS only, but they break for want of Stock. Whereas Industry gives Comfort, and Plenty, and Respect: Fly Pleasures, and they'll follow you. The diligent Spinner has a large Shift, and now I have a Sheep and a Cow, everybody bids me Good morrow; all which is well said by Poor Richard.

I'm reading Benjamin Franklin's works, which I find to be of profound wisdom, and caught this particular phrase, and this is causing confusion:

  "Fly pleasures, and they ’ll follow you."

Since English is my second language, I don't quite well understand the meaning of that sentence.

What does it mean?


texts:
I'll go straight to the point, I was reading an article in the NYT

  he never put his uniform back on, LEST he become the target of protesters.

May you help to understand how to use it ? Is it of common usage?


texts: If won't is the contraction of will not, where did the "wo" come from in won't? Why is this convention over willn't?


texts: Can intransitive verbs be converted into transitive verbs?

texts:
For example, in the sentence, "he failed", failed is an example of an intransitive verb. Now, let's consider this. Instead of "he failed", let's rephrase the sentence as, "he failed the exam". Here, we have a clear subject[he], and an object[exam]. Therefore, would "failed" be considered an example of a transitive verb, now.
Also, are there some examples of an intransitive verb that are strictly used as an intransitive verb, if IT IS POSSIBLE that intransitive verbs can be converted into transitive verbs.
Also, also, how to expand my knowledge on "verbs". I'm currently reading "Wren and Martin". Thx


texts: In the sentence "Go for a kayak" is "kayak" a verb or a noun?

texts: I thought it would be a verb considering it is being used in place of "ride in a kayak". However if 'a' is a indefinite article, doesn't it have to refer to a noun? Would that make the word 'kayak' a noun or a verb in that sentence?


texts: Flapping my ears near other people's conversations, as I am wont to do, I have noticed that the people we used to call batsmen have (it would seem) turned into batters. Does anyone know why this should be?


texts: What's the English word for the Spanish "sobremesa"?

texts: In Spanish, the situation where you keep talking after the meal has ended with the people you shared your lunch or dinner is called "sobremesa" (literally over-table or after-table).  Is there a word in English to mention that situation?


texts: What is the meaning of the verb "to shoot at" someone by using words?

texts: I´ve seen many interviews where people that were being interviewed said things that were considered offensive and harmful towards someone. But the question is, in all the titles of the interviews, i saw - Someone shoots at somebody-. Can you guys tell me the meaning in this occasion?


texts: Is "fanning over" merely a corruption of "fawning over"?

texts:
I just heard someone today say that some person was "fanning over" some celebrity. I've always heard it as "fawning over."

I see plenty of examples around the web of people using "fanning over," but am not having much luck finding anything about its usage or etymology.

By the way, when I say "corruption", I'm not making a value judgment, but referring to the technical term "linguistic corruption."

Does anyone know of the origin of this phrase?


texts: Question on Garner's explanation of subjunctive

texts:
I'm puzzled by an example given in Garner's Modern English Usage illustrating correct use of the subjunctive mood.  In this example, Garner offers both the incorrect and the correct usage: "But the truth is, if it wasn't [read hadn't been] for a last-minute infusion of cash by an out-of-state lobbying group, the initiative would not have even garnered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot."

Is hadn't been used here because of some grammatical relationship with would not have later in the sentence? I would have expected weren't to replace wasn't here (not hadn't been).

Many thanks for any insight.


texts: Is this sentence grammatically correct, use of comma before they and use of pronoun?

texts:
"The best footballers, the best musicians, they all start early."

Is this sentence okay? Or is there a way I should rephrase it to make it grammatically correct?


texts:
Struggling with a simple sentence:

  He had spent the morning investigating a burglary at the City Deli, a small shop …

Is investigating a burglary a participial phrase here?  Seems so. That would imply placing a comma in front of it, which sounds a bit strange.  Any help will be appreciated.


texts: What's the difference between "efficacy" and "effectiveness"?

texts: I usually use the word "effectiveness" in conversation, but sometimes I use the word "efficacy" then self-correct with "effectiveness" . Is there a practical difference between them?


texts: Is a comma required when we begin a sentence with a gerund?

texts:
Is there a rule that states if a comma is needed in the following case:
Doing this, does that?
The following sentences made me ponder on it:
Clicking on a job within a project(,) opens the page where the button is located.
Cloning a job(,) allows you to set new settings.


texts:
How to understand the usage of "when/while doing something" in grammar?

For example,

  I am watching TV, when sitting in my
  sofa.

I think "when" and "while" can never be used as prep.. They are conj. instead.

I remember seeing some explanation from a English grammar book, written for people speaking another language, which basicaly said "when/while doing something" is just a shorthand of "when/while somebody is doing something", where "somebody is" must appear in the main clause, otherwise this shorthand usage is not valid. For example, it is wrong to say

  I watch TV, when sitting in my sofa.

because in the main clause there is no "be".

I would like to see if someone can concur or refute this explanation from rigorous English grammar point of view.


texts:
"Will things ever be the same, is the question most people have."

Is the above phrasing correct? The first part of the sentence is an indirect question, but I cannot find anything in Chicago that instructs how to punctuate the indirect question if another part of the sentence follows it.


texts: What is the name for the exhaust from natural gas powered furnaces after it comes out of the chimney?

texts:
Sitting around the breakfast table we were unable to come up with a simple word for the exhaust out of modern chimneys. It's not really smoke because they aren't wood burning, but using exhaust seems too scientific.

Any ideas?


texts: Is "We look forward to your spending time with us" a proper use of "your"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When is a gerund supposed to be preceded by a possessive pronoun?

The phrase “We look forward to your spending time with us” is common in invites in my industry but it feels like “all your base are belong to us” to me. :-P

Is it proper English?


texts: Difference between "I am" and "I'm" for the feeling and punctuation

texts:
We all know I am and I'm are same but recently I figure out there is a bit difference.

When we said I'm a programmer, the feeling is like just normal telling other, but while you said I am a programmer it feels more like I'm proud to be a programmer, although is you said hardly I'm a programmer it'll still get the feel, but I think the I am one got more feeling.

Am I correct for the thought? Does I am and I'm really makes others feel different?


texts:
To resolve an issue on Christianity.SE I'd like to know whether it would be legitimate to forgo ever using pronouns to refer to the Holy Spirit.

So, is it required to use a pronoun when the subject is well established, like it's required in the game of Checkers to make a jump even when doing so would be to your detriment?  Is excessive wordiness acceptable in certain cases or is it always acceptable?  Or does this have nothing what so ever to do with grammar and is simply personal preference?

This seems bad (and unnecessary):

  When Bob was seven years old, Bob went to the swimming pool.  While Bob was there, Bob jumped off the high dive.

But substitute God for Bob and it doesn't sound as bad. I'd just write the big He, but the question came up on Christianity.SE and I'd like to know if it's required that pronouns are used.


texts: Is "to have to do something with" ambiguous?

texts:
I am struggling with understanding of this structure. So here is something I would need to explain:

  It has to do something with the car. [It is related to the car somehow.]

But what if I want to say that (hypothetically) "it" (e.g. a monster) must perform an action with/on the car, wouldn't it look the same?

  It has to do something with the car. [It must perform an action with the car.]

Or:

  He has to do something with the fraud. [He is involved in the fraud.]

  He has to do something with his friend. [I want to express that he must do something together with his friend.]


texts: What does “and counting” in “Bits of plastic in oceans: 5.25 trillion and counting” mean?

texts:
Today’s (December 11) online New York Times carries an article dealing with the quantum increase of plastic material in the ocean under the headline, “Bits of plastic in oceans: 5.25 trillion and counting,” followed with the lead copy;

“New computer modeling suggests that plastic particles weighing almost 269,000 tons are floating in the world’s oceans.”

Though it may sound a very naïve question, how can I take the word, “and counting” here?

Does it mean 5.25 trillion bits of plastic is “being counted,” “still on increase,” “a serious matter,” or else?

English dictionaries at hand include too many definitions and usages of “count,” and I can’t judge which one of them is applicable to the above headline.


texts: What is an alternative to "Perpetrator" with a more neutral connotation?

texts:
In the phrase "He criticized the revolution and its ______" I originally wrote "perpetrators," but that casts a negative connotation on the revolution, as if it is a crime. I don't want to use "revolutionaries"
as to avoid the sentence sounding too repetitive, so what is a more neutral word I can use for the revolutionaries in question?


texts: Word for someone who acts like an expert but who has very little knowledge?

texts: What is a word to describe an individual who acts like an expert in a subject area, constantly stating facts and correcting people, but who actually has very little knowledge on the subject?


texts: Expression for when an actor has become so associated with a role that it becomes difficult to 'unsee'?

texts: Think of Daniel Radcliffe. Is there an expression that describes his situation or state of him always being associated with Harry Potter by many people?


texts:
Does it mean "it could be better but is ok" (small disappointment), or "it really worked!" (surprise and content)? Depends on the context?

Also, is there a difference between "That did the job" and "It did the job"?


texts: Can a (compound) adjective stand for a plural noun?

texts:
Does the following sentence make sense?

Computers take key role at the two middle stages of the previously-listed.

(Previously a process has been discussed with six different stages, so "previously-listed" refers to its third and fourth stage.)

...and in case the sentence is correct, should a hyphen be used in the adjective or not?


texts: Using a transitive verb at the end of a sentence

texts:
Is it ever appropriate to use a transitive verb at the end of a sentence? Specifically, the sentence that I'm considering is one that ends in "... [someone] will update [a thing] as changes in [other things] necessitate".

I know that it can be reworked, but I'm curious if the sentence above is valid from a grammar standpoint.


texts: Colorful English equivalent for the French expression "mine de capitaine"

texts:
Is there a colorful expression in English which equates to the French [avoir] une mine de capitaine? (Literally, to sport skipper's [glowing, healthy] looks)
It is something that we say to someone when, for example, they return from a restful vacation with radiant, healthy looks.
I considered look healthy as a horse, but rejected that phrase because it sounds like it conveys a connotation of robustness to disease rather than of radiant physical appearance.
To give you a talking example of the kind of looks someone with une mine de capitaine might have, please consider the following pictures:

mine de capitaine
Shatner's mine de capitaine

EDIT:
Here is a list of words and phrases associated with what "mine de capitaine" implies, which might help you in getting to grips with the expression/idiom that I'm looking for:

well rested, glowing, radiating, healthy looking, dazzling, fabulous, joyful physique, looking well/great.

Note that "mine de capitaine" doesn't necessarily imply that the person is physically fit, clinically healthy, and/or aesthetically attractive (they even might be kinda overweight actually.) Still, they sport a joyful, radiant, healthy looking physique/appearance.


texts: How to differate between different event types

texts:
I am trying to translate a part of a web application and I am unsure which describes the situation precisely. The context is theatre.

event: for a public audience a performance of a theatre performance
event: only "interal audience" like the actors etc. e.g. used in internal trainings or trips or rehearsal

Which words would you use? Currently, I use for the first one Event and would like use this for second one, too. But I think, unique naming is important.


texts: What does "matrices" mean in this context?

texts:
What does "matrices" mean in this sentence?

This mercury analysis uses three matrices: 1) blood, 2) urine, 3) hair.

Does matrix here mean a rectangular array of numbers arranged in rows and columns?


texts:
Going by known pairs of nouns and verbs, it would be "cognite", but is it valid? If not, what's the right word?

Update: I know cognise or cognize, but it doesn't cover the full meaning of "cognition" as it's used now. E.g., AHD has "The mental process or faculty of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment." Consider the usage in "Cognitive-Behavorial Therapy". It's far more than just the meaning of "know".

Furthermore, cognize is the verb for cognizance, not cognition.


texts:
Is there a difference between your 'signature' and your 'mark'? One of the comments on this post on Bruce Schneier's blog claims there is:

  This might be out of date in these days of 100% literacy (yes, that is sarcasm) but it's not actually your "signature", it's your "mark". This is why serious contracts require witnesses.

If there is a difference, then what exactly is it?


texts: fascninated "by" or "with" her married life?

texts:
This is the original sentence I wrote:

  She seems fascinated with her married life.

But my proofreader thinks that "with" should be changed into "by":

  She seems fascinated by her married life.

I noticed that someone else asked a similar question before, but it seems like not much has been solved. (When are you "fascinated with" something, and when are you "fascinated by" it?)

Does anyone has any ideas?


texts: a word or a phrase for "something that entails spending money"

texts: I need to know a word or a phrase for the following: "Something that entails spending money"


texts:
So we call a French male "Frenchman", an English male "Englishman", and a Dutch male "Dutchman".  what do we call Swiss males?

"Swissman" comes to mind, but it sounds like a cheesy version of Superman, like "Cheddarman" or "Mozzarellaman".