texts: Is there a clearer alternative to COB when you work for a global company?

texts:
The company that I work for is literally global hence it could truly be said is never closed for business, (some sections even function on Christmas Day, either because of regional observances or because the work cannot be interrupted).  Likewise operations such as the health services and other emergency services have no true Close of Business.

But you still hear, or see in e-mails, things like "I need this report by COB today".

I am wondering if anybody knows of a clear unambiguous word, phrase or abbreviation for what such writers really mean, i.e. before the end of normal office hours at this location, who knows maybe if I can find something I can, by example, get everybody to use it.


texts: Do all "prefixes" can be use as "combining forms" or just some of them can be?

texts:
I wonder if all English prefixes can be used as "combining forms" or just some of them can be play role as "prefix" and combine with other words or affixes to form "compound forms". e.g "Chron-" prefix can come at the beginning like "Chronological" (prefix example) and can be placed at the middle to form combining form like "synchronize".

Now I'd like to know if all English prefixes follow the rule or not and just some of them have the ability to use an place in the beginning and in the middle of words/affixes and the rest just can be placed at the beginning of words/affixes to play those roles just as prefixes only?

I like etymology and root of words to recognize unknown words that I face them in the articles or dictionary, so I started to create affixes, Latin and Greek root list in Anki software to memorize them one by one daily. Now I work and enter prefixes and tag them in Anki, but most of the time; I don't know what are those should tag as just prefix only or prefix and compound forms and this is confusing me?


texts: "Tumblers" in Rosencratz and Guildenstern

texts: In Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead, Ros asks the Player, "Tumblers, are you?" What exactly does he mean by "tumblers"? Prostitutes? Actors?


texts:
I saw everywhere Deputy CIO (Deputy Chief Information Officer),
but how do I prove it?
Could you advise me the source (with IT positions) I may use as a reference?
HR department uses CIO Deputy, but I suggest it is wrong.


texts: When referring to "one", use "his" or "their"?

texts:
Is this grammatically correct?

  There is nothing like an animal attack video to remind one of their
  mortality.


texts: “Most” as an intensifier, not as a superlative

texts:
Sometimes “most” is used as an intensifier rather than a superlative:

“Lucy expressed herself most eloquently.”
“The employees work most efficiently.”

There are other degree adverbs that do this, like “quite” and “rather”:

“Tom paints quite beautifully.”
“They got there rather quickly.”

However, to my mind, the latter examples can take on the meaning of both “very” and “somewhat” depending on the context or emphasis, while “most” only takes on the meaning of “very”. “Most” is not working as a superlative or comparing the extent of Lucy’s eloquence to any other type of eloquence or the efficiency of the employees to that of anyone else's employees (as in much/more/most); it is simply adding emphasis. I understand that what may be setting “most” apart from the others could, then, just be the nature of the word's link to forming superlatives, which means we find it difficult accept it with the sense of “somewhat”. My question is whether there is an actual grammatical difference between these forms, or if it really is just its association with forming superlatives that limits its meaning? And if there is a grammatical difference, are there other examples of this?
Also, as far as my personal knowledge of English usage goes, using “most” in this way is a little outdated and sounds upper-class, while the latter two aren’t and don’t (at least definitely not to the same extent). All three can serve the same function, so is there a historical or linguistic reason for why “quite” and “rather” used in this way are still contemporary and “more” isn't?


texts: What is the difference in meaning between "pattern" and "rhythm"?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning between pattern and rhythm?

It seems to me that the former is more American-English and the latter more British-English. Are these more or less synonyms or are there some subtile differences?

It seems to me that pattern is more common than rhythm.


texts: Is the "an" rule applied when a sum of money is in between?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use “a” vs “an”?

I have recently seen this image:

Should "a" have been used instead of "an" in the "...an $100,000 apartment" part?


texts: English, Latin, or Malay pronunciation of betta fish

texts: The genus name of the aquarium fish Betta splendens derives from the Malay word "ikan betah." The common name of the fish is also "betta," which in English we'd pronounce with a soft e. I often hear the pronunciation "bay-tuh," for both common and genus name, and just as often hear fish fanciers loudly object and insist on the soft e. But would it also be correct to use a Latin pronunciation for the genus name, which I think (not sure) would be closer to "bay-tuh"?


texts: There is a song by Loreena McKennitt "Tango to Evora". I know that the author meant a portugal city of Evora, but the question is: what could "tango to Evora" mean?


texts: How do you reply this letter in a formal way?

texts:
Hi Ryan,

We refer to our conversation on 30 January 2017, you have mentioned that it is not your usual practice to throw away the washing dryer without consulting us.

Please clarify.

How am I suppose to reply to this email? Seems like they misunderstood me that we will consult them before throwing away the things. If I replied

"It is indeed not our usual practice to throw away"

this will make it as if I'm the one in the wrong here.. How am I suppose to reply? I want to say that we been doing this for a long time but we will ensure that this will not happen again.


texts:
I am looking for an easily identifiable awarding scheme, but without using metals, specifically "Gold, Silver, Bronze".

Does such a thing exist?


texts: Will+inf+before+present perfect weird structure?

texts:
I just saw this sentence and I didn't get it,

  The children will dust all the furniture before their mother has finished cooking.

I do get the cooking and the dusting, I just don't know when will/did they take place? And when am I supposed to use this weird structure?Or is it just wrong?


texts: Why does switch take a noun in the plural?

texts:
Why do we say "We switched locations." or "We switched phones." instead of "We switched location?" or "We switched phone?"

Are there any other verbs that take the noun in the plural?


texts: Looking for another way to say, "sacred cow", sort of

texts:
"Sacred cow" doesn't completely cover what I'm looking for (and I think it might be a bit insensitive).

What I'm looking for is a word or a short phrase that would mean something like, "an idea or creed that is beyond reproach, upon which all other ideas must agree or be either be discarded or redefined."

My use for it is in a religious sense, something like "dogma", but maybe not quite. It would be nice if it would work well in a secular setting, too.


texts: "I haven't finished with that" vs "I wasn't finished with that"

texts:
I've just seen that example of usage "I wasn't finished with that" http://9gag.com/gag/aep02N5

And it seems incorrect to me.

Why wouldn't I use "I haven't finished with that" instead?
Is it correct to use passive voice there?


texts: Adjectives between "plain" and "good" that can be used before a noun

texts:
I want to complete the following sentence.

  Thirty years ago, a person with a bachelor's degree could get a good job after graduation. However, people living in the 21st century can only get a ____ job with a bachelor's degree.

I want to use an adjective that is less positive than "good" in the blank. "plain" means "neither good and nor bad" I think. I want to find a word(preferably a formal one) that means "slightly good".


texts: How does a word come to have two completely opposite meanings?

texts:
Words like cleave and egregious have meanings that are completely opposite to other meanings of the same word. How did such a bizarre, confusing state of affairs ever develop?

I mean, I just can't work out how one and the same word could come to mean two distinct things that are completely opposite! Is it the same root? What did the root mean and how did it come to be used to mean the opposite?


texts: I feel scared I pass that hospital every day when I go to work

texts:
I read a piece of news that there is one old man in my city is having Coronavirus. He is now in the hospital. I want to say" I feel scared because I pass that hospital every day when I go to work."
Is the sentence correct?


texts:
I feel doubts regarding the usage of few as a substantive. The sentence is:

  "Both kinds of literature are the product of the academic few."

Is this correct?

Now I want to place the adjective fluent to qualify the academic few:

  "Both kinds of literature are the product of the fluent academic few."

It sounds odd, but that's perhaps because of the f's?

What do you suggest?


texts: "It's as same watch as the one I lost." - What is wrong with the sentence?

texts:
Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, what's wrong with them?

  It's as same watch as the one I lost.
  It's the same watch as I lost.


texts: Should I replace "It would be possible that" and if so, why?

texts:
At the end of the Wikipedia article on Jerusalem Colophon, it reads (regarding whether a text was written in Jerusalem vs. Greece),

  According to Caspar René Gregory it would be possible that the manuscript Tischendorfianus III was written and corrected in Jerusalem.

This is probably because on page 360 in the cited reference, Gregory wrote,

  It would be possible that this manuscript itself was thus written and corrected in Jerusalem.

Gregory should have written

  Thus, it might be true that the manuscript was written and corrected in Jerusalem.

(He could have been mixed up.  Although born in the U.S., he was the German army's oldest WWI volunteer.)

Two questions arise:

Should the article's last sentence be revised to a more-direct form?
If I make this change, what is the justification? It seems weak to say it sounds bad, and vague or perhaps wrong to say it misuses tense, case, or subjunctive mood.  Is there a proper grammar-based explanation for changing it?


texts: What is meant by "don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining"?

texts: I have heard a couple of times recently the phrase "don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining", usually in the context of a heated argument so I've hesitated to ask speaker what exactly he meant by it. Can anyone here help?


texts: What is a less offensive synonym for "hypocrite"?

texts:
Is there a word that describe a person who doesn't "practice what they preach"? Basically, is there a synonym for "hypocrite" that carries less pejorative connotations?

For example, let's say a friend of mine says he is a Christian. Yet he engages in behaviors considered sins by the Bible, making him a hypocrite. And I would like to tell him I think he is a hypocrite.

What would be a good word to use here, so my criticism seems constructive rather than offensive?

I tried using a thesaurus, but the synonyms that came up were even worse (ie: they are more offensive than "hypocrite").
Related (but different) question: Alternatives to "hypocrite", which asks what to call someone who knows they are in the group of people they criticize.


texts:
Well, I'm asking this for two reasons. First, because of my combined clumsiness for sports and English. And second, because due to the whims of my boss I have to keep using flowery terms in the scientific paper that I'm writing.

Even if I can be done with the generic word "agent", I need to put a metaphor of a "game" for something as mundane as a "stochastic process". I basically need two words, one of them can be "player", although it doesn't hurt if it needs to be different, and the other something that roughly means "game assistant", "game facilitator", "batboy" (I can't use this because my boss will think is too vulgar), in practically any sport. I'm asking for a word like this.


texts: What are representative examples of exaggerated simile like “I never in a million years thought I’d see this.”?

texts:
I found the expression, “I never in a million years thought I’d see this,” in the New York Times’ article (November 9) commenting on pedophiliac harassment scandals of Penn State under the headline, “Paterno is finished at Penn State, and President is out.”

The phrase appears in the following sentence:

Kathryn Simpson, 20, a junior studying graphic design, was weeping as she walked away from the university’s administration building, Old Main, with a friend.
“This is devastating for us,” she said. “I never in a million years thought I’d see this.”

I’m not sure of whether “I never in a million years thought I’d see this,” is popular expression or not, but it reminds me of a universal pattern of exaggerated expressions that we imported from Chinese classics and turned them into colloquial metaphors, for examples, “白髪三千丈- an old man with 99,000 feet gray hair, describing a reclusive old man with long gray hair and beard,” “万石之涙 - shed 1,800,000 liters of tears, describing deep sorrow,” and “万里之長城 - the Great Wall of 40,000 km.”

I’m curious to know what kinds of popular, exaggerated formats of English expression you have other than “I never in a million years thought I’d see this.”

Would you give me just a few examples that I can use it tomorrow, because there would be hundreds or thousands?


texts:
A native English speaker wrote in her book that the word "scold" is old-fashioned and not used in a situation, for example, where a child has caused some trouble at school." According to the writer, the child would say, "I got in trouble at school today" rather than "I was scolded at school today."

If this is correct, why do we often see newspaper articles in which the word "scold" is used as in the following excerpts. Is there any difference in meaning or nuance in the usage of the word?

Trump scolded the media ...
Tom Price resigned ... after being publicly scolded by Mr. Trump...


texts: Consider the question, "Aside from his pronunciation, what mistakes did he make?"

texts:
Aside from his pronunciation, what mistakes did he make?

Doesn't this imply that the person asking also considers the subject's pronunciation as a mistake? How should it be rewritten to clarify that the pronunciation is not considered a mistake?


texts: "Our subconscious" or "our subconsciousness"

texts:
Example:

  There are many hidden things in the unreachable depth of our
  subconscious/subconsciousness.

What's the most common choice? Is the first option ungrammatical?


texts: "Flesh Is Heir": how can this phrase be understood?

texts:
The part of the sentence containing this phrase is "to alleviate the many ills to which the flesh is heir".

The question is "Could you paraphrase this correctly?"


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "Sharp Showers" in UK Met Office Forecasts

texts:
The UK Meterological Office is the government body responsible for weather forecasting here.

On TV and radio forecasts, they have taken to using the phrase "sharp showers" to indicate sudden, heavy rain showers (I had to telephone their press office to find that out, as they don't enlarge on it in their limited-time media slots).

But what is the origin of that phrase? I have never heard it used in colloquial British English of any dialect or accent, so wondered where it comes from.


texts: Word for light after it has passed through a window / glass

texts:
The most evocative image I can think of for this is when the headlights of a car pass through your bedroom.

I need this word because I have a computer graphics application that requires me to name a class which has the projection of another object, and I don't want it to be either ProjectedVisualObject or ShadowVisualObject because the first one is just not the word I'm looking for, and the second one isn't really accurate because it still has all the color of the original object.


texts: What does the word 'knocked' mean in the old song "Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road'?

texts:
What does the word 'knocked' mean in the old song Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road'?

I really want to know because "knocked" in the song, doesn't make sense to me.


texts: Can I use "innovate" as a transitive verb?

texts:
For example, is it OK to say: "We're innovating our device"?
Or would I have to say something like "We're innovating in order to change our device"?


texts: "Not so much as...but..." or "not so much as...but as...?"

texts:
What's more grammatically correct?

  I knew she would be standing here, waiting for me. No, not so
  much as waiting but *expecting me to be here.

or

  I knew she would be standing here, waiting for me. No, not so
  much as waiting but as expecting me to be here.


texts: Word for paying a large sum of money to end an installment?

texts:
Like when you have to pay in installment for 12 months, you came upon a fortune, you decided to pay the remaining months, in one single big payment, to end the debt.

Example Sentence:

  I decided to [__________} the installment loan on my car to save money
  on the interest payments, even though the articles I googled warned me
  that it could adversely affect my credit rating.


texts: What is the taste that stimulates your appetite?

texts: When we eat something, after munching and swallowing a bite, we are strongly stimulated to have one more bite. What is the taste that causes this effect?


texts: Ending sentence with a single word following ... what punctuation?

texts:
I am currently writing an essay for school and ran into a problem that neither my friends nor I could solve.

  Without any consequences for poor behavior, whether the consequences be outwardly applied like being grounded by a parent, or an emotional response like feeling ashamed for upsetting a peer, there is no development of a trait necessary in civilized humans, empathy.

I would like to end my sentence with a single word to emphasize what the rest of my paper will be about. I believe there is a correct form of punctuation to lead on to the summarising word, but am not sure what it is. Perhaps a hyphen?

Also I don't want to say "i.e."


texts:
If I wanted to say "I am inclined to seek cheaper results inside the supermarket", then which of the following ways would make the most sense?

I mind to seek cheaper results inside the supermarket

I am minded to seek cheaper results inside the supermarket.

According to google, the fifth definition of "mind" as a verb is "be inclined to do something" with the example: "he was minded to reject the application". This doesn't make sense because in that example, "minded" is an adjective (he was minded) — which I would assume to be, knowing the word "small-minded" — and also it is in the past tense of "mind".
Since I couldn't specifically tell what google meant by this, I went to the good ol' classic dictionary (with pages, mind you!) and found the words "mind" and "minded" to mean two seperate things.
Minded can mean "disposed, inclined; (in compounds) having a mind as described, e.g. small-minded" (I don't know what "in compounds" means, unfortunately). But the word mind does not mean any of those, as a noun or verb (transitive or intransitive).
I thus believe that the second sentence is (more) correct, but... did I evaluate correctly, or not? I mean, if "minded" is in past tense and could mean "be inclined to" then wouldn't "mind" just mean "incline to"? Because I'm still in Year 10 — I still undertake english studies, so I'm no real expert ;)
Thank you in advance!


texts: "I have no money on my cell phone account" or "my cellphone is out of money" or how?

texts:
Situation:

Soon you will not be able to use your cell phone because you almost have no money left on your cell phone account.

How would a native English speaker quickly and naturally describe this situation?


texts: Should I place a comma in "I live in London where I work at a coffeeshop"

texts:
Should I put a comma between "London" and "where" in the following sentence, or is it acceptable not to include it?

  I live in London where I work at a coffeeshop brewing delicious coffee.


texts: "more leads mean more sales" or "more leads means more sales"?

texts:
I was just wondering which one is grammatically correct.

  "more leads mean more sales"

OR

  "more leads means more sales"

Of course, "more leads" is plural, but the sentence implies "Getting more leads means more sales".


texts:
So, I have a reason to display percentages in the thousands and greater

1000%, 20000%, etc

should they be written with or without thousand separators?

1,000%, 20,000%, etc

I have been Googling and can't find an answer; I keep ending up on sites talking about Excel number formatting.


texts: Why do we need different auxiliary verbs ("is", "are", "am") for different pronouns?

texts:
What is the purpose of having different auxiliary verbs ("is", "are", "am") for different pronouns ("He", "You", "I"...) instead of simply using "is" for all pronouns?
It seems like the pronoun always exists in a sentences where the auxiliary verb that relates to it appears, so, to me, having different auxiliary verbs seems to serve the sole purpose of overcomplicating the language and making it more difficult to learn.


texts: The role of preposition "out" in relation to a verb

texts:
I am already aware that a preposition after a verb turns it to a phrasal verb, which happens to almost have a completely different meaning from the verb alone. However, I noticed a very frequent usage of "out" which in many cases seems to me to be kind of redundant, and those are not meant as phrasal verbs, as far as I know.

For example, why saying: "hear me out" instead of just "hear me", or "help me out" instead of "help me" and so on?

There are also other cases like "put your hands out in front of you" or "turn your hands out externally" etc. suggesting an "outward" meaning.

So, why is the preposition "out" so widespread in English?


texts:
I know these two sentences are correct, but I can't figure out why! Can someone please educate me?

The cake looks delicious.
The decorations make the cake look delicious.

Why isn't the singular cake combined with the plural looks in both examples?

Thank you!


texts: Is there any difference between "famous" and "popular"?

texts: Is there any difference between famous and popular?


texts: Is it best to use a comma following an inline address?

texts:
Is it proper to include a comma at the very end of an inline place address? Also, in case it is relevant, the sentence is the title of an article.

For example:

  Examples of cross-gene fertilization within a sample from Bogota, Colombia 2009-2011.

or

  Examples of cross-gene fertilization within a sample from Bogota, Colombia, 2009-2011.


texts: Tense agreement after "if it means that"

texts:
I've read that in conditional sentences, tenses don't have to match. Is this true for sentences that contain "if it means"? In the examples below, I'm trying to say something like "I won't write to you if it's going to help me not miss you".

  I will not write you if it means that I won't miss you.
  I will not write you if it means that I don't have to miss you.
  I will not write you if it'll mean that I won't miss you.

Do these basically mean the same thing or is one more right than the other?


texts:
In general, is it better to say get an idea on or get an idea of something?

Here are some examples:

  In order to get an idea on how to build this house...

  In order to get an idea of how to build this house...

In my opinion, the first example sounds better. Which one is grammatically correct?


texts: Word or phrase for bumbling through the least optimal course

texts:
I'm sure I've seen this employed as a comedic device in various films/cartoons.  An inept character goes through a sequence of actions over a short timespan, each of which is the worst possible at that point, and seemingly by accident.  And yet, the timing and accuracy are such that a highly skilled person would be hard pressed to have enacted the same course if they had tried on purpose.

"Yes, after stepping on the loose marble and knocking into each vase, you managed to flail in precisely the right way as to send a spoonful of mustard directly into your boss' eye, and then fall backwards onto the one spot in the room occupied by the wedding cake.  And how were you to know, as you cast about for something to grip to help yourself up, that the curtain would come undone and fall into the fire and become tangled in your jacket buttons such that, as you attempted to flee the conflagration, you brought it into contact with all (and only) the most flammable objects in the hall? It was a simple case of _______"


texts:
Tragic yet beautiful;
 Pretty yet ugly;
Cold yet sweating;
Hot yet shivering;
Scary yet funny;
Serious yet funny;

What are these called? phrases with the word yet


texts: When writing is it correct to use numerals (e.g. 1,2,3,) or spell out the number (e.g. one,two,three)?


texts:
Sometimes when I come back from my brother's house he asks me to let him know when I am at home. Now, in that situation which one of the following is correct :

I've reached home now.

OR

I've arrived home now.


texts:
Here is a personally inspired question, but I hope it finds broader relevance.

Without clear specific roots, what phonetically indicates that a word is spelled with a kn rather than an n?

Recently a friend and I were discussing his name, which begins with an N.† As it is uncommon, most people that hear it don't know its origins or how it is spelled. Almost invariably when they first try to spell it they assume it begins with a K.

What makes them assume this?

I am interested in both inherent and applied indicators.

Is there a slight difference in pronunciation of kn- and n-, and my friend employs the former?
The name is of Slavic origins and I, though maybe biased by the truth, hear nothing Germanic in it; nonetheless, could some Germanic-seeming traits encourage hearers to think it's Germanic, and thus potentially take a kn-? I don't trust that everyone that assumes the k is linguistically aware to associate kn with Germanic languages, so this would be at a deeper level of language understanding.

†If this question proves impossible without giving the actual name I will ask my friend for approval to divulge, but for now I want to respect his privacy.


texts: Why our children called as **ward** in the school?

texts:
As i checked several email from my daughter school mail communication and i found a strange salute for my child.

  Your ward has successfully moved one more step ahead. You ward is now in Grade 2 section C

Why our children called as ward in the school ?

Please explain.


texts: Is the word unease more archaic or formal than the word uneasiness? I am used to the latter, but the former surprises me. Is there a rule how to choose the best one in similar pairs of words?


texts: What's the story with the British use of "miss not having" vs. "miss having?"

texts:
This one has bugged me for years.

When an American English speaker wishes to express regret that Joe doesn't come around any more, they would typically say, "I really miss having him around."

It seems that it's common for British English speakers, however, to say, "I really miss not having him around," when they mean the same thing. To me, this sounds like exactly the opposite of what they mean to say.

"Having him around" is what we regret the lack of, is it not? So why negate that, essentially saying you regret the lack of "not having him around" implying that he IS around and you liked it better when he wasn't.

Can anybody explain why the British construction makes any sense? Is there some difference of interpretation in the meaning of the word "miss"?


texts:
I've always thought that Short-sighted means that you fail to look far into the future when planning. I thought near-sighted meant that your focusing ability in your eyes becomes less powerful as you move further from the object you are looking at.

I noticed thesaurus.com has them as essentially meaning the same thing; multiple things.

What is the correct definitions of these phrases?


texts: Should I write "that being said" (vs. "that's been said" or "Having said that")?

texts:
I often write what "sounds" right (being not a native English speaker/writer), and I believe the expression "that being said" to be fairly common, as opposed to a more complete form like "that's been said" or "Having said that".

In doubt, I turn to google fight, which seems to confirm the common usage. (not exactly the right reference, I know.)

Yet, I don't think that "that being said" is correct, especially in writing. "That said" is even more common. Is it also acceptable in writing?

What expression would you use in formal writing? (Not too formal though: like a technical forum)


texts:
If you have a list of items separated by commas, can it be used as an appositive if you separate it from the rest of the sentence by yet another by comma?

Here's an example:

  The factory produces various types of ropes , such as cotton,
  acrylic, nylon, etc. , from garment waste.

In the above sentence, I use two commas (in bold here) as appositive commas, whereas the other commas are used to separate the items on the list. Is this correct? If not, why not?


texts: What is the word for a person who delegates their vote?

texts:
I'm making a delegation system. Users can hand over their votes to delegates (the noun). I am wondering what is the opposite of a 'delegate'.

  I just delegated my vote to John, now he has a new ________.

I looked around, and found 'delegator' but I'm not sure if it's the right word.

If delegate is confusing or wrong in this context, I also found 'delegatee' and 'representative'.


texts: A single word for a person who couldn't fulfill his/her dream

texts:
What is a person who couldn't fulfill his dream in life called? I'm talking about someone who wanted to become something that he couldn't become. I would like a single word with this exact meaning, please.

Example:

  I loved someone but I couldn't get her because she got married to someone else for her family reason.


texts: When did the word "guys" become popular as a gender-neutral word?

texts: It's normal nowadays to walk into a room (men and women, boys and girls etc) and go, "Hey guys!". Has this always been the case, or what?


texts:
Unless I missed it, I have only found posts about omitting "that" and one for "which was" but not specifically similar to this question.

In this sentence: "Sometimes, he would borrow one of Jim’s soccer balls and kick it against at a wall that was spray-painted hello in red and world in blue."

"Sometimes, he would borrow one of Jim’s soccer balls and kick it against at a wall spray-painted hello in red and world in blue."

If I remove "that was" it sounds a bit weird, but is it grammatically correct? Does it read better one way or the other? What are the rules regarding this?

Furthermore, is it correct to say the "...at a wall that was spray-painted hello..." Do I have to say something like "spray-painted with the words hello..."

Best,


texts:
Should I use specializing or specialized? Or better, what's the difference?

  Microsoft is a German software development company specializing
  in software development tools for the engineering industry.

Or

  Microsoft is a German software development company specialized in
  software development tools for the engineering industry.

Thanks.

EDIT: I did many research among companies presentations without getting an idea of what's more correct.


texts: How did "Pork Chop" become a term of endearment?

texts:
Pork Chop is such an odd term of endearment, any idea what its origin is?

Update: For context, I heard the term used in two different contexts.  The first was as a nick-name for my dog who is a large breed female Labrador and at the time was trying to convince someone to share their lunch with her.  The second time I head it used was as a somewhat derogatory reference to someone that was overweight.  In this second example, the nickname wasn't said with malice, more in a jocular manner.


texts: What's the difference between "Speakers of English" and "English speakers"?


texts: How to translate the French noun 'problématique' into English?

texts:
A reviewer of my thesis told me that I am wrongly using the word problematic, and suggested that I use problem instead. I have since read the definition of both words and neither correspond to the French definition I was looking for. So which noun is correct to refer to the object of research, in the context of a thesis?
Here is an example sentence:

  This thesis provides potential solutions to the problematic outlined.

Please don't think that this is not a real question: remember that word usage is one of the hardest parts of English writing for native French speakers.


texts: Can I use "after" before the afternoon? Is it grammatically right?

texts:
Can I use a sentence like "I will it see it after afternoon"?
I mean can I use "after" before the afternoon. Is it grammatically right?


texts: What do you call "How do you do" type questions?

texts:
Does English have a name for questions with counterintuitive answers?

For example:

"How do you do?" -> not "I am fine."


texts: Dashes in "st-vertex-cut" or "st-vertex cut"?

texts: People use "vertex-cut" and "vertex cut" where I am unsure whether it should be with dash or without dash. For me, it looks nicest to have "st-vertex-cut" and then "st-vertex-cut set" without dash, where "st-vertex-cut" specifies the set, but I am unsure. What are the rules for adding the dashes and how to write the set that is defined by vertex cuts disconnecting two terminals called S and T?


texts: What do you call a girl having big eyes?

texts:
I am trying to describe a big-eyed girl. I was not getting a proper phrase in English to describe her eyes. What is the proper one-word phrase for the big-eyed girl in English? The title looks odd when I write " The Boy who loved big-eyed girl". Is there some attractive phrase?

big-eyed girl
ball-eyed girl


texts: In 'the novel navigates present-day US' do we need 'the' before 'present-day US' as we would usually before 'US'?


texts:
I'm prompted by a question on the origin of the word English. Being English myself, I pretty much know that one.

But "Latin"? Why call it that?

As soon as this question crossed my mind, I realised it wouldn't exactly be an easy thing to Google, so I'm not even going to try. Surely someone here knows.


texts:
Personally, the word trump/trumped is overshadowed by ugly American politics and I would prefer not to write/speak it unless absolutely necessary.
I see the comments saying that no one would associate the two meanings within a given context and that it is pointless to try and substitute a word that has been used for a long time, but I just don't want to use it. It has too much meaning for me and I do not want to write it down.
Consider the following sentence:

Miguel's hand revealed that he had indeed trumped Jack's queen of spades.

What would a good alternative to trumped be?
I have looked at and ruled out all the below synonyms:

outclass

Definition:

to surpass in excellence or quality, especially by a wide margin; be superior

Reasoning:
Cards aren't superior to each other.

upstage

Definition:

to draw attention away from.

Reasoning:
The cards aren't drawing attention away from each other.

eclipse

Definition:

If one thing is eclipsed by a second thing that is bigger, newer, or more important than it, the first thing is no longer noticed because the second thing gets all the attention.

Reasoning:
The cards aren't drawing attention away from each other.

surpass

Definition:

to become better, greater, or stronger than.

Reasoning:
The cards aren't better, greater, or stronger than each other.

outdo

Definition:

to surpass in execution or performance.

Reasoning:
Cards can not surpass each other, nor can they surpass in execution or performance.

outperform

Definition:

to do well in a particular job or activity compared to others of a similar type.

Reasoning:
Cards can do well in a job or activity because they don't have any. They are only objects.
So what word should I use instead of trumped?


texts:
I want to express how many rooms have yet to be cleaned before the work is finished. Is this correct:

  How many rooms left to clean?


texts: What do you call someone who misses someone?

texts:
What would you call a person who misses someone dearly?
Perhaps also a person who's life was changed by that person?


texts: Word for getting service from friends/family unofficially

texts:
In Russian, the term "sv'ázi" ("связи") is used to describe something like business connections but it is not that exactly. "Sv'ázi" usually does not refer to friends made through business, but it normally refers to someone you know who could provide you with a service in an unofficial capacity. Russian phrase sounds like "Someone has sv'ázi somewhere" and means that he or she has friends or relatives working in mentioned organization and they could help to achieve an extra or better service from this firm or state organization like getting something without waiting a common queue or simply more quickly, cheaper, getting a job and so on. So knowing them is not a consequence of your business, but because you know them, you can get something done.

Is there an English word or idiom that captures this idea of having friends or family in an organization to help turning interaction with this organization more easy and effective than in official common way?


texts:
We have some guide text on our website that reads:

  This email will send daily to members whose vouchers are expiring in 10 days time

However a colleague is insisting that the time period is possessive so the sentence should read:

  This email will send daily to members whose vouchers are expiring in 10 days' time

Which sentence is grammatically correct?


texts: Is this sentence grammatical? "...but at seeing how fond the cat was of me made me disgusted and annoyed"

texts:
I cannot explain it, but at seeing how fond the cat was of me made me disgusted and annoyed.

I saw the above sentence in naver.com.

a) Is the above a correct sentence?
b) If so, what is the subject for the verb made?
c) What is the ground for omitting the subject?

"at seeing how fond the cat was of me" cannot be a subject and there is nothing between me and made. So, it seems there is no subject for the verb made.


texts:
I was taught that so means very.

"You are so busted," means, "You are very busted".

Now because of people saying things like, "I can only do so much," I thought they were saying, "I can only do very much".

What could that possibly mean? They can only do it "very much," but not "little much." But no! What they meant to say is, "I can do only as much as I can."

Why does the word so have a different meaning all of a sudden? Is it even correct? Is my variant correct, at least? Is this some hidden figure of speech?


texts: What do you call honey harvested by beekeepers?

texts:
There are kinds of honey called forest honey, cliff honey, dwarf honey etc.

What is honey farmed by beekeepers called?


texts:
I want to write a sentence like this:
I look up at the new roller coaster they built called Superman.

Superman is the name of the roller coaster. Do I need to do anything special with the name? for example should it be in italics?


texts:
This has always puzzled me.

It looked nothing like the dessert.

If they thought it was in some way bomb-like, why the extra 'e'?


texts:
I often tend to say something like

  Who all is coming to the movies?

And my friends correct me that I should be saying

  Who all are coming to the movies?

So which one is correct?


texts:
I'm searching for a word that has the meaning of something that is made of two different parts. I've looked around on thesaurus and this site for a bit and I can't find anything. Here is the sentence I'm trying to use it in:

  This communication has covered the basics of percolation theory and shown that a 3-dimensional cluster labeling programme is able to describe the complex three dimensional network between the different sites in the [Insert Word Here] blend.

And here is an image showing what such a blend looks like.

The issue is that it's not just an amalgam I'm trying to describe, but a material with two separate interpenetrating  species.

What word should I use to describe this?


texts:
could somebody tell me how would a native american pronounce the stop-t in the following sentences?
-It would be nice to meet her.
-I've got you.
-Right now.
I learned that we should bring our tounge into the t sound's position and instead of letting the air out we should jus stop there and utter the following consonant.
But it sounds to me as if they stop the air flow with the following consonant's mouth position or without the t sound's toung position (for instance in "it would" with the W).
Thank you in advance and sorry if wasn't clear enough.


texts: "Time needed to complete a work" -- is this correct?

texts:
Is the usage of "a work" correct here? My supervisor, who is not an English teacher, advised me to use "a task" instead.

Usually, though, I would not mind either way. Does somebody have another opinion?


texts: Cars manufacturers or car manufacturers?

texts:
While referring to an attribute of a group of objects, should the attribute alone be pluralized or should the objects be pluralized as well? Is there a rule that can be used to identify which word(s) have to be pluralized?

Which is the correct phrase that has to be used in the following scenarios?

Eg 1: If I have a list of companies that make cars, should it say "These are the car manufacturers" or "There are the cars manufacturers"?

Eg 2: Student names v/s students names. (list of students)

Eg 3: Student count v/s students count. (a single number with the number of students in the list)


texts: Word for reenacting emergency situations for training, etc

texts:
I am looking for a word (or a combination of words) that describes reenacting emergency situations, including painted wounds, etc. Basically a name for the whole concept of painting wounds, reenacting injury, etc.

This is something that is often done by emergency services for training their staff for emergency real life situations, for example by the German Red Cross. In German we have the standing term "Notfalldarstellung" for this, however I could not find a good equivalent one in English.

An example sentence using the term would be:

  We are having a seminar on term on Friday to learn how to paint realistic looking wounds.

Is anyone able to help me out here?


texts:
I am writing an article for my school magazine on the ASCII encoding system and need your help choosing the right set of words.

This part of the article deals with the shortcomings of the Morse code and introduces the ASCII system with its advantages.

This is how it goes,

  Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is its steep learning curve, it is
  difficult to grasp and simply not worth the time and effort. Enter the
  ASCII system.

And then it goes on about how ASCII is much superior than Morse code.

Is this correct? If not, what else could be used in its place?

Edit: Would a comma after enter help?

  Enter, the ASCII system. It was designed to make transmissions...


texts: What is an adjective that can be used to describe someone who doesn't keep promises or goes back on what they said previously?

texts: I mean a person who has said he/she was gonna do something and then didn't. Would it be something like dishonorable?


texts: How can I shorten a clause that shares a structure similar to the clause that comes before?

texts:
I would like to know how I can shorten the second clause in the following situation

Paris is the capital of France and Rome is the capital of Italy.

I do not want to duplicate the part is the capital of.
How can I shorten in this type of situation?


texts: "This paper, combined with some glue" — singular or plural?

texts:
If I have an item, combined with another item, is it still a singular subject in the sentence? For example:

  This paper, combined with some glue, makes for an afternoon of art projects.
  This paper, combined with some glue, make for an afternoon of art projects.

All of my experience tells me that it should be the first, but I have multiple people arguing for the second.


texts: Is there any difference between like best and like the best?

texts:
Is there a difference between these two sentences? Are they the same?

What color do you like the best?
What color do you like best?

Is there a difference in their meaning?


texts: declined to override a veto - is that a Yes or a No?

texts:
The full sentence from the New York Times reads:

  One day after a mass shooting in California left 14 people dead, Republican lawmakers in New Jersey declined on Thursday to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a gun-control bill they had unanimously supported in June.

I can't tell... was the law passed or not?


texts:
I have a problem choosing the right combination of words for naming a variable in my program.

I have to choose among the following values:

job history
work history

Which is correct? This variable describes the companies in which a person has worked and his work history.


texts: Is there a word for when you/someone seeks help with a problem from someone else, but then the problem is resolved/gone when the helper arrives?

texts:
This is a situation I see my self first hand very often as someone who works in an IT related role. I also see it in other areas and experienced by seemingly everyone, but I don't know if there is a word for it. If not, I think we should make one!

For example: Your car is making a weird abnormal noise when you start it, and it predictably does this every single time you start it. However when you take it to a Mechanic and you start the car like any other time, and the noise is gone.

Maybe there's an idiom or proverb that describes this. I feel this is a common experience that should have more eloquent explaining what happened than saying "I swear I'm not crazy, it was just doing it before you came!"


texts:
I have an issues understanding the definition of warm dishes, specifically:

Are soups included into warm dishes?
If yes how do we call dishes that are not fluid?

For example:

  A: What kind of food can I eat in your restaraunt?
  B: We server salads & soups.
  A: Can I get a warm dish?
  B: No, sorry, we don't have any.

Does this sound idiomatic? Or there is a better world to denote the type of meal that is warm, but not soup or anything fluid?


texts: What does "The deck is stacked" in Hillary Clinton’s presidencial candidacy announcement mssage mean?

texts:
Washington Post’s (April 15) carries an article under the title, “Hillary Clinton sounded a little like Elizabeth Warren in 2008, too” accompanied with the following lead copy.

  “Hillary Clinton's announcement video Sunday included a clear-as-day
  shout-out to Elizabeth Warren. "The deck is stacked" against average
  Americans, Clinton argued, echoing Warren's "System is rigged"
  mantra.” From The Washington Post.

AP Radio News (April 13) also reported that:

  "The former First lady, Senator and Secretary of State jumped into the
  race in an online video. She wants to be the champion of average
  American, adding "the deck is still stacked in favor of those of the
  top."

What does "The deck is stacked (against average Americans / in favor of those of the top)” mean? Could you paraphrase it in plain words?


texts: Looking for the way to read a sentence containing a conjunction and a plural

texts:
How does grammar tell me to parse this sentence:

Visualize the relation between two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects.

Are we being asked to visualize the relation between two-dimensional objects and also visualize the relation between three-dimensional objects (each dimension on its own)?

Or, are we being asked to visualize the relation between an object in the two-dimensional group and one in the three-dimensional group?

I think what's confusing me is the interaction between the plural objects and and. So, my question essentially is how to understand this sentence and similar ones having the same construct. Is there a grammatical rule?


texts:
In the context of a technical manual, engineers use the word "accessible" to indicate that a piece of hardware should have "easy access" for repair, maintenance, and other modifications.

What would you use instead of "accessible" in such contexts (avoiding the lexeme access)?

For example:

  The TMGB must be located such that it is accessible to telecommunications personnel.


texts:
We are discussing the sentence "We can obtain the result by analytic inversion." It's from a math context.

Is this an OK sentence, or does it have to be "an inversion"? If so, why? If not, why? Is this sentence particularly problematic because "inversion" can have both a non-countable (the process of inverting) and a countable (if you have different ways of inverting) interpretation?
If this is an OK sentence, why is the sentence so much different if you replace "inversion" by "algorithm"? Clearly, in this case, you do need "an".


texts: What is the difference between "in the extent that" and "in the extent to which"?

texts:
So, if you replace "in the extent to which" by "in the extent that" in the following sentence, will it mean the same thing?
There is a limitation in the extent to which Sarah can distance herself from the ongoing protests.
Also thinking about "to the extent". Which one of the two does it match in terms of meaning?


texts:
As it is used when meeting someone for whom you havent met for ages.

Is this mean that the speaker is emphasizing or wandering if he/she is alive to see this?


texts: Use of present perfect after past simple as clauses of the same sentence

texts:
Here is the thing I've written lately. Now, when I look at it, I'm not sure whether this is the right (natural, basically) way to put things.

  This post was written about a year ago, but it has been long forgotten among the drafts, as I haven't been frequent guest here lately.

I'm not so sure about the use of tenses. The first clause was in Perfect too before, but I've changed it to Past to comply with basic tense rules at least virtually.


texts:
Is such phrase is correct?

  A request was sent to somewhere.

Something is telling me that sentence below is correct one.

  A request has been sent to somewhere.


texts: Is there an equivalent of the spanish "que hueva" slang expression in English to denote that you feel lazy about doing something?

texts:
In Spanish slang, particularly in the west, the expressions "que hueva" or "me da hueva" are used, respectively, to convey that you are lazy about doing something. The context might be as follows:

A: "Do you want to play soccer?"
B: "Que hueva" [meaning something like "noo, feeling too lazy right now for that"]

In the latter case ("me da hueva") literally translates to "it gives me hueva" and is like saying that something (perhaps a homework assignment or menial task) "gives you" that lethargic feeling.

Are there possible equivalents in English or expressions/constructs similar to the above?


texts: What are the distinctions between property, quality, attribute, characteristic, feature, aspect and trait?

texts:
There may not be a right answer but hopefully there can be a best answer. Obviously we use these terms quite interchangeably (which I find annoying), and dictionaries have a lot of overlap in their definitions of these words because dictionaries often don't attempt to contrast words with each other. But if we had to give some rigorous definitions to these words what would they be? They can still have overlap, as long as the overlap is clearly explained. I prefer answers that prove themselves with examples of how your definitions already match with popular usage.

These words (can) all share the same meaning of describing what something is like or what it has. But then what are their useful differences? Some details to consider: which of these are more abstract and which are more tangible? which are more tightly bound to an object and which are more alienable? which are more subjective and which are more objective?

Here is some pre-research for you. (Or a source of confusion.) Pertinent definitions from dicionary.com.

property
a quality, attribute, or distinctive feature of anything, esp a characteristic attribute such as the density or strength of a material

quality
an essential or distinctive characteristic, property, or attribute: the chemical qualities of alcohol.

characteristic
a distinguishing feature or quality: Generosity is his chief characteristic.

attribute
something attributed as belonging to a person, thing, group, etc.; a quality, character, characteristic, or property: Sensitivity is one of his attributes.

feature
a prominent or conspicuous part or characteristic: Tall buildings were a new feature on the skyline.

trait
a distinguishing characteristic or quality, especially of one's personal nature: bad traits of character.

aspect
nature; quality; character: the superficial aspect of the situation.


texts: Does ostensible/specious make sense in this sentence?

texts:
I'm trying to say people must be more wary in a society more and more false. That is more people and things are not what they say they are - or appear to be.

The sentence is:

  ... more important to be wary in an increasingly ___ society.

Does the word "ostensible" or "specious" fit in here (if so, which one better)? Currently I am using the word "superficial," but I'm not sure if it fits as well as the alternatives. I am open to other words as well.


texts: Word for application that is both sender and receiver

texts:
I am developing a software application that acts as a sender as well as a receiver. What is a single word for this?

This is a peer application running on two different machines, sending data to and receiving data from its peer.


texts: Does an analytic dictionary of English exist?

texts:
I read about this type of definition in a linguistics glossary.

  Analytic definition: a description of the range of reference of a lexical unit. This description is made up of ageneric term identifying the broad category to which it belongs, and modifying word or phrase which specifies its obligatory components of meaning, thus.
  For example

  doctor—"a person licensed to practice medicine"
  eat—"to take into the body, through the mouth, something which may be thought of as food"

  In contrast with

  doctor—"physician; surgeon"
  eat—"consume; devour"

  ... Defining a lexical unit using a synonym or generic term alone is not sufficient to distinguish it from similar words.

I searched online, but only found an etymological dictionary.

Do you know if a dictionary like the one I described above exists?


texts: Word for a part of a city that is under the control of organized crime?

texts:
Sample use: "Timmy went to ??? to procure an 8-ball of cocaine and visit his favorite hooker."

Sort of like chinatown is a general name for an ethnic enclave, is there a general  word or a phrase for a criminal enclave?

It is best demonstrated in 80s/90s Japanese gangster movies where the Yakuza often  replaced rule of law in a part of a city that contained illegal gambling, prostitution, etc. The Yakuza didn't just run the businesses but in fact replaced the police in those areas, had their own enforcers, laws and judges.

I found a few terms like mobtown or narco town but those seem to be referring to entire towns/cities, not just parts of it.

Hood or ghetto don't necessarily mean control by a criminal element.


texts:
I met in text a phrase:

  A double or a triple line means a great love of life and adventure.

and had a discussion about meaning of it.

The first proposed meaning was:

  Biggest love (for a women) of person's life

Another proposed meaning was:

  Love to life. Enjoyment of life.

I bet this latter meaning is correct, but why there is of instead to or for?

Even Google Translate gave me both these translations. Can anybody explain me, what means that phase?


texts: Is there a non-pejorative word for opportunism?

texts:
The words "opportunism" and "opportunist" suggest the ability to take advantage of situations -- but they assume that one is doing so for one's own benefit, which makes the terms pejorative.

What is a non-pejorative word in English that means "have the skill and wisdom to recognize and seize opportunities that lead to broad gains"?  I am looking for something that is part of the "art" of diplomacy and politics, for example.

"Clever" is a somewhat helpful adjective, but there is no such thing as a "cleverist."  "Entrepreneur" means is a person who is willing to take on risk and innovate, but lacks the sense of seizing opportunities as they emerge.

It seems like an important concept that has no word.  Any suggestions?


texts: I'm writing a sentence where pale gray morning light is being viewed through window blinds. I'm trying to think of a way to describe its entrance without sounding cliché. What are some good verbs to use for how light moves?


texts: Word for letting something pass through unmodified

texts:
I'd like to phrase the sentence "The system lets certain inputs pass through unmodified" more directly.

Could anyone suggest a word to replace the parenthesised 'phrase' below?

"The system (lets-pass-through-unmodified) certain inputs".


texts: Disagreement between “He's making…” and “He makes…”

texts:
The sentence is:

  He {the verb to make} rude comments about my clothes every time I see him!

I filled in:

  He makes rude comments about my clothes every time I see him!

My teacher said it was wrong and because of the exclamation mark it should be:

  He is making rude comments about my clothes every time I see him!

I would like to know who is correct.


texts: Idiom: Get off your high horse (American English Stress)

texts:
Get off your high horse
[gɛt̬ _ɔf jər ˌhɑɪ 'hoərs]
We have a flap T linked with the word OFF.

I'm not sure which words I should stress in the idiom above, apart from the noun "horse" which is the last content word and most likely carries stress. I also put a smaller stress on the adjective, although I'm not sure if it's important.

What confuses me is I don't know what "Get off" is. Is it a phrasal verb? If yes, phrasal verbs usually gets the stress on the particle.


texts: What's the correct apostrophe usage in this case?

texts:
I just wrote a response on a meta Stack Exchange site to a question about tag usage and purpose. In that response, I found myself writing the following:

  I hesitate to argue for the tag's (and
  the questions' that go with it)
  complete removal.

"Tag" is intentionally singular and "questions" is intentionally plural. Is that the correct way to use the apostrophe on "questions"?


texts: Did I "invoke a function" or "initiate a function" in computing?

texts:
According to Google, initiate means "cause (a process or action) to begin" and invoke means "cause (a procedure) to be carried out".

In computing, should I say, "I invoked a function" or "I initiated a function"?


texts: Word to describe realization of one's power or potency

texts:
Is there a word in English that could robustly and vividly describe the realization of one's power or potency? For example, something that you might feel after, like in good old fairy tales, the wizard says "the strength was within you all this time"?

I almost sure I encountered the word that fits the description.


texts:
A question from December 2011 asked What is the social context of "pizzazz"?. I'm curious about the word's etymology. I checked some reference books, but they showed very little agreement about the origin of the term, as the following extracts indicate.

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1981):

  [Expressive.]

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition (Simon &  Schuster, 1983):

  [probably echoic of exuberant cry]

Brewer's Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Phrase and Fable (1992):

  US slang from the 1960s for flamboyant energy and style. Originally a show-business term, it is now applied to anyone or anything having glamour or flair. It is thought to derive from the sound of a racing car's engine.

R. L. Chapman and B. A. Kipfer, Dictionary of American Slang, Third Edition (1995):

  [origin unknown; perhaps echoically suggested by piss, ass, and piss and vinegar]

Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999):

  [Mid-20thC. The origin of this word is uncertain, but it may have been an invention of Diana Vreeland who was a fashion editor for the publication Harper's Bazaar during the 1930s.]

The New Oxford American English Dictionary (2001):

  —ORIGIN said to have been invented by Diana Vreeland, fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar in the 1930s.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003):

  [origin unknown] (1937)

A Google search turned up a few other interesting points. First, Google found a copy of Harper's Bazaar from 1937 (volume 71, part 1) that supposedly contains multiple instances of pizazz. Unfortunately, only one snippet shows text including the word, and the sentence in that instance is practically illegible except for the phrase "will put the pizazz into tramping and driving."

Second, Google finds a single, seemingly coincidental instance of pizazz from the October 1907 issue of Motor (The National Monthly Magazine of Motoring), in a jokey article by M. Worth Colwell called "The Motor Affairs of Pharoah—II":

  And there was a tower which was like the tower of Babel, and upon it was written an inscription that said: 'What made the leaning Tower of Pizazz lean, whereas it was once fat?'

And third, in a snippet from a book called It's a Woman's Business (1939), Estelle Hamburger claims that the original source of the term wasn't Harper's Bazaar, but the Harvard Lampoon [combined snippets]:

  "Pizazz," a sizzling word first used in the Harvard Lampoon, spotted by Harper's Bazaar, is scooped up by Bonwit Teller in an ad of fashions with that extra bit of something, "the scotch in the soda — Pizazz!"

Can anyone shed further light on the source and etymology of pizzazz?


texts:
I wonder whether the following sentence uses "as if" correctly.

  David makes a desk as if it were made by John.

Does this sentence mean "David makes a desk which looks like one made by John"?


texts: Origin of the idiom "falling off the wagon"

texts: I often hear the idiom "falling off the wagon", as in "Has Robert Downey Jr. fallen off the wagon?" (i.e. Is he drinking alcohol again?). Where did the phrase originate? What wagon? And why is being "on the wagon" synonymous with being sober?


texts: "I didn't have any work experience before" vs. "I don't have any work experience before"

texts:
But for me, as long as I can enhance my skills, I won't care much about my job since I didn't have any work experience before.

edit: Sorry for the confusion, I will edit to make it more concise and clear.

In this context, there is no work experience at all, but the model of this sentence is to describe that with having no work experience, that I won't mind to take any job so long as it can enhance my skills.

I am not sure which tense case to use for don't vs didn't to describe that I have no work experience.


texts:
Is the last word in each of these phrases an adverb or an adjective? How can we know?

  love me tender
  treat me nice
  hold me tight


texts: Adjective that describes the pattern in wood from insects boring tunnels along the surface beneath the bark?

texts: I once read a word that described the pattern seen below. What might that word be? I'm quite certain it ended in "-iculated".


texts: How many tenses are there in English and what are they?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How many tenses are there in English?

The number of grammatical tenses in English makes it confusing as to what they are exactly and what types of tenses there are.

This seems to be complicated by Aspects and Conditionals. If we were to put them into a mix, how many total possibilities would there be, and what would they be?


texts:
Give the task of synthesizing and transforming these two sentences:

John ran after the snatch thief.
John tripped over a stone and fell.

Into just one of this form:

While ____________, ____________.

The provided choices were:

Answer 1: While running after the snatch thief, John tripped over a stone and fell.

Answer 2: While John was running after the snatch thief, he tripped over a stone and fell.

My students are often confused as to how to synthesise and transform those two sentences. My explanation is to identify the main clause. So Answer 1 is correct.
Is there a better explanation?


texts:
They succeed in persuading me to leave the field of technology in which I can easily find assurance in terms of job opportunity and financial stability.

Please tell me whether I can use the word "field" here. By “field” I mean a specific area of knowledge, can one say that one can find assurance of job opportunity in
an area of knowledge?


texts:
I'm currently creating a web application for specialized projects.

They can be added, edited, graded, published in a database etc. We were looking for a name for this app and thought that "Project Platform" would fit.

Now I have some doubts because we came up with it from its German version "Projekt-Plattform". I'm not sure if the word "platform" can be used in this meaning in English.


texts: How to describe Homer Simpson's 'idunno' sound

texts:
In The Simpsons Homer makes a closed mouth sound made up of three rising and falling tones, resembling (and meaning the same as) 'idunno' said without opening the mouth.  I hear it being used from time to time, and use it myself.

How would this be described in linguistic terms - is it a word?  Do/should a dictionary contain it?  How would it be written? Has it been studied at all?


texts:
I'm looking for the origin of the expression: "fixing someone's wagon".

As in:

  Alice, with malice on her face, exclaimed "Maybe some hijinks will
  teach that scoundrel!"

  Bob rolled his eyes and sarcastically responds, "Yea,
  that'll really fix his wagon!"

I've found here and here that it's basically about bringing someone their downfall, but why?

I love the phrase, but I can't figure out how "fixing someone's wagon" equated to ruining their chances of success, or bringing about their downfall, etc.? Were wagon mechanics particularly malicious?


texts: Is this correct "I'll be looking forward to helping.. ? Read on please

texts:
First of all some background. An acquaintance asked by email if I'm willing to offer advice on a project he's starting to develop. I answered yes for sure.He responded Wonderful,Stay tuned. I have no idea when I will receive the info to give my advice. This email was a few weeks ago.

Today I decided to let him know I'm still interested, a little reminder.

I wrote "I'll be looking forward to helping xyz (xyz- his name)."

A friend told me my above response sounds like you aren't yet but will be in the future. I didn't consider this before sending it.

He knows I want to help and it sounds like this project is a work in progress.I'm waiting to hear from him so I can offer advice.

What I wrote does it convey yes I'm looking forward to helping you? My friend is right? Or is this not a correct sentence and should be worded differently?  Thank you for your help.


texts:
Here is what, I am in dire need of a single word, that denotes a meaning of the sound pertaining to ripple.

Explicitly asking, is there any word for the sound produced when a drop of water hits on the surface of large body of water?


texts:
Why does "Are you a Japanese?" sound wrong compared to "Are you Japanese"? As opposed to "Are you a Canadian?" and "Are you Canadian?", both of which sound fine.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about how to ask this question to use meaningful tags, sorry.


texts: looking word for: current state or the state before a change

texts: I'm looking for a word referring to this description: "current state of a situation or the state before situation changed".


texts: Should there be a capital letter after Hello?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I capitalize the starting sentence after a greeting that ends in a comma (e.g. “Hello,”)?

I have received this email from my hosting provider. And I think the "we" should be with a capital letter (after Hello, ). Am I wrong?

Hello,

we acknowledge receipt of Your request that will be processed in the shortest possible time. This report is for information only;
please do not respond. If you are a registered customer, please
contact us by the accredited requirement from the customer center
******* - https://********.com/ Loging into Your account under which the request relates, you will speed up a resolution of all Your
requests, that require your authorization.

Best regards

Your customer support team


texts: Can you use the expression "unreliable narrator" as a metaphor to describe a real person?

texts:
Can you use the expression “unreliable narrator” as a metaphor to describe a real person who’s relaying unreliable information?
For example:

“TikTok alleges that they don’t send their user’s personal information to China. They are an unreliable narrator in my opinion but you should keep that in mind.“

Edit: just in case some of you don't know, unreliable narrator is a term from literature for when the narrator presenting the story isn’t credible. Here's a link to the wikipedia page if you want to read more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator


texts: What is the plain alternative to “fossilized language”?

texts:
I was drawn to the word, “fossilized language” appearing in the following sentence of the New York Times’ (June 13) article titled, “Southern politicians try to hold back the tides.”

  “It’s always taken longer to get to the future in the South, and the
  region’s social tardiness has been on display in this season’s
  political races. For the moment, at least, harsh and fossilized
  language is still required of both Republican and Democratic
  candidates (in Mississippi and in Kentucky).”
  http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/southern-politicians-try-to-hold-back-the-tides/?hp&rref=opinion

Fossilized language sounds like to me a stale but die-hard slogan. I can imagine what it implies, but I don’t know an exact word to rephrase it briefly.

Google Ngram shows that this word first appeared in early 1900, but the currency is very low (at 0.000000048% level in 2008), after peaking in 1990 (0.000000092).

What is a plain alternative to “fossilized language”? Is it primarily used in political context?

Is it definitely different from “fossil language” such as, say Sanskrit, Coptic and Aram?


texts: Single word for a person who hates sitting idle

texts: What do you call a person who hates siting idle?


texts:
In He is not right, it is usually said that not negates the auxiliary is.
But why not think of not as negating right instead?


texts:
Is it correct to use phrase "Making a binary decision" for the decision which is not well thought out.

  Example: As a president you can not make such a binary decision.

Are there any references for such usage?


texts: When someone is very hungry we say he is starving. How to describe someone who is very thirsty?


texts: Adjectives and nouns: which modifier should be written first?

texts:
If I am writing a sentence where both a noun and an adjective are used as modifiers, shall I write first the adjective, or the noun?

  It's a nice C code snippet.
  (?) It's a C nice code snippet.

Is the same "rule" valid for the following sentence?

  Reserved SQL keywords are written in uppercase.
  SQL reserved keywords are written in uppercase.


texts: What does 'everything, but everything' mean?

texts:
I am reading an article in this link and can't wrap my head around what this part actually means: "CD Projekt's true genius is that everything, but everything in the game bends towards delivering this uniquely flavoured fantasy to the player. It's intoxicating."

Everything, but everything? What does it mean?

I had a hypothesis that it means that while every part of the game helps with delivering the fantasy, in the very same time, it also makes it far from delivering the fantasy.


texts:
Which is correct?

  There always come a point...

  There always comes a point...

Would there be better ways to write this?


texts: A word (or expression) which means paying someone with counterfeit money?

texts:
Just as shortchange means cheating someone by giving insufficient money as change, the word I am looking for means cheating through counterfeit money.

There are words as simple as deceive, bilk, swindle, cozen and others, but I couldn't find a word that means exactly what I need.


texts: What is the explanation for why we say "I'm going downtown" instead of "I'm going to downtown?"


texts:
Which is correct when referring to the punishment gotten by an evil-doer: just deserts or just desserts?

Are both acceptable due to common usage (see buck naked / butt naked and strait-laced / straight-laced)?


texts:
This might be a duplicate, so kindly excuse me if it turns out to be the case.

Do we say "This is his and her height" ? To me it sounds correct, but since we are talking about two separate heights, does my quoted phrase imply that it is both heights added together? (Nobody ever says that, i know)

For example if I say "His and her lexicon" does it mean the accumulated lexicon of Him + Her or is it treated as a separate one for each? Would you ever under any circumstance say "His and her lexicons?"

Perhaps "His and hers lexicon"?

Also, should I tag this under "grammar" or "grammaticality"?

Thank you!


texts: "I accept my fault." vs "I accept it was my fault."

texts: English is not my first language, but the first sentence (I accept my fault) doesn't sound very natural to me. I have looked up the word accept in several dictionaries and haven't found any similar example. It is often used with responsibility or blame. Another word that seems to convey the same meaning is admit, but that sounds a little formal and serious. What is the most natural way of saying that you are responsible for something wrong? Personally, the second sentence (I accept it is/was my fault/mistake.) sounds more natural to me.


texts: What is the earliest use of the word "content" as a noun in the sense of "content producer" or "creative content"?


texts: Should north, south, east and west be capitalised?

texts: Should cardinal points be capitalised? Please give a reason why they should or should not.


texts:
When talking about the game of chess do I capitalise or not? If not why not?

Example excerpt:

  I have picked chess as it is a popular, well understood game. Even if
  the programming unit doesn’t know the concepts behind chess there is a
  wealth of easily-researchable information available for the developer
  to find answers promptly. Chess, as well as being
  ubiquitous, has some well-defined behaviour which drew me towards
  using it as the problem domain for my experiment.


texts:
I believe I've heard a word for it, but I can't remember.

If I start a business with some partners, and we are going to produce multiple products in the future, our first one would be called...

Some words that aren't quite what I'm looking for would be:

Flagship - Our flagship product would be our most important one.
Virgin  - doesn't seem to fit
Spearhead - One can spearhead a project by leading it, but I don't know that a product can be the spearhead project, can it?

Sample Sentence: Glad to call our first business meeting to order; we will be launching our (word) board game this fall!


texts: A more positive word for "co-conspirator"?

texts:
I'm trying to write a sentence like "Be your own fairy godmother", but I don't know if it really works.

The advice I'm trying to give (within a larger context not shared here) is that a woman can act as her own co-conspirator (but without the negative connotation of that word) to arrange/coordinate various factors in her favor so that she can meet and fall in love with the man of her dreams.

I don't really feel that any of the words in the following list really convey what I'm aiming for, but maybe "fairy godmother" is the closest (and other bold ones are better than non-bold).

Do you have any additional suggestions or thoughts?

accomplice
advocate
ally
associate
benefactor
champion
co-conspirator
collaborator
colleague
confederate
cooperator
enthusiast
fairy godmother
guarantor
guardian
helper
insider
partner
patron
patron saint
philanthropist
proponent
sponsor
supporter
teammate


texts: What's the difference between electricity plant and electrical plant?

texts:
I know the difference between electricity and electrical, but I came across these two words (electricity plant and electrical plants) seeming to be used in the same contexts in the different parts of the book I translate, which is about Kafka's office writings about insuring different firms, depending on the risks, etc., and I couldn't be sure.

I translated both into a Turkish equivalent: [elektrik santrali], meaning "power plant." In the former, we are talking about a plant that a hotel is using to get electricity for its elevator. In the latter, we are talking about "high-voltage electrical plants", for which some safety regulations are issued. They look the same, but I am not sure.

Are there any differences between the two?


texts:
I often find myself in need of a short expression, to emphasize that what I just wrote (not quoted) is actually true. In cases of paradoxes or illogical truths for instance, like The Monty Hall Problem.

It is not always possible to explain that something is actually true, nor does it look pretty to constantly add "(This is actually the truth, despite it seeming to be incorrect)" at the end of what might just be a 2-digit number in a small table-cell.

Apart from adding an asterix, or footnote, with an explanation at the bottom of the page, is there a [sic]-like alternative? An abbreviation that simply says "This is actually true/the correct value despite looking incorrect/seeming illogical"?

Assuming none exist, the only way to get a new phrase or abbreviation into the language/dictionary is to start using it... With that in mind, just for laughs, what would you prefer as a new expression?:

cbt - "counterintuitive but true"

sya - "surprising yet accurate"

tis - "this is so" (I think we'd best avoid "this is true"...)

Or perhaps cor for "correct"? Could create some confusion as it is already used as an expression in british, but I kinda like that idea.


texts: Capitalization in Austen's two Inches wide quote

texts:
What should I do with your strong, manly, spirited Sketches, full of Variety and Glow? -- How could I join them on to the little bit (two Inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much labour?

I love the above quote from Jane Austen. What are the canonical explanations for her capitalization of Sketches, Variety, Glow, Inches, Ivory, and Brush?

P.S. Apologies in advance if this question is outside of this forum's scope.


texts: "Proceed to doing something" or "Proceed to do something"

texts:
This may be a very easy question to many of you and may not deserve to be here. But it has been bothering me for a long time..

Should I add ing behind the verb after proceed to just like how it should be after look forward to?

  Now proceed to writing on the paper.

Or should I just express it this way?

  Now proceed to write on the paper.


texts: Is there a name for letters that "cross the line" (hang low) when written in lowercase (g, j, p, q, y)?

texts: Is there a fancy name for these letters that "hang low"?


texts: A superset word for: single-words and idioms; any text that acts as a pointer to one specific meaning

texts:
There are meanings that can be expressed by one word, like "happiness", or "envious", and others that need a phrase, like "jumping with joy" which just means "happy", or "Green with envy"
The latter are called idioms. But both single words and idioms in this case act as pointers to the same meaning. Is there a superset word in English grammar for any text (regardless of being one word or many) that points to a single meaning?


texts: A phrase for two characters that are unmistakably similar

texts:
I am looking for a phrase that compares two characters that share very similar attributes and characteristics.

  Prufrock and Hamlet truly are [ ... ]

I don't want something like "very much alike" or "similar"or anything like that. Rather, I'm looking for a distinct phrase to describe this.


texts: Phrase for arranging a meeting - 'anytime you can'

texts:
I want to arrange an interview, pointing out that I am available at any time convenient to him. I don't know the correct form for saying this. And although he has not asked for my contact information I do want to send it.
Are these sentences correct?

anytime be convenient for you works for me.
and for offering contact information:
MY skype name is ... and my phone number is ...


texts: What is a word that means "the outcome resulting from a lack of action"?

texts:
I need a word to use in describing the following abstract case:

There is a situation.  A person could take action to react to the situation, and then there would be an effect of that action.  But the person could also ignore the situation, and there would be a different consequential outcome resulting from inaction.

I'm looking for a concise (and preferably short) word for "consequential outcome resulting from inaction".


texts:
Consider that you have a fantasy figure, when writing a comic/book. Could you refer to this figure as he/she without being grammatically incorrect?

Example: Daffy Duck likes his new boat. Because now he can sing "I'm on a boat".


texts: "Barrow Pit." Western American Term for Ditch

texts:
I'm from the American West and have heard a term local (northern Utah, southern Idaho, western Wyoming) rural farmers and ranchers use regularly with a half-dozen variations when they refer to ditches, usually deep ditches running designed to collect and transport run-off from snow or rain running alongside two-lane public highways. The term that is "barrow pit," and the first term may be pronounced "barrow" with the "a" taking an "eh" or "ah" sound, "burrow," "bar" (probably with an assumed apostrophe at the end as a shortener), or "burr."

Typical uses: "I ran my tractor into the barrow pit swatting at a bee." "That car ended up in the bar' pit."

I asked locals the origins of the term and have typically received shrugs or exasperated "that just what it's called"-type responses. I've sought other web resources, but have come up short.


texts: Can a dependent clause and a quote make a complete sentence?

texts: The sentence is "As my Latin teacher said, “Carpe Diem”: seize the day." I added colon just to clarify the Latin quote. Is this a complete sentence?


texts:
What is the meaning of sentence "straight outta + city + state" ?
For example: Straight outta Holland Michigan.


texts:
I'm Turkish. Is the sentence below correct?

Information:

There is an exception. It is used or defined in the module.
And my field specifies this information.

Sentence:

  This field specifies the module that the exception is defined or used.

Is using that okay there, or should I use where or which instead?


texts: Does the term 'silly season' still exist?

texts:
It used to be the case that the summer period, from roughly early July to early September, in Britain was known as the 'silly season' to newspaper people. It was a time when newspapers were short of news copy, parliament and the law courts being in recesss, football was in close season etc.

It was a time when 'silly' news stories appeared on the front pages. In 1966, when the World Cup was stolen and a little dog found it in a hedgerow it typified the type of story the press craved during the summer months to fill their pages. Things like the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the death of Diana in 1997, both in the middle of the silly season, came as a godsend to news proprietors.

Nowadays one hears less of the silly season which may be a reflection of a global news industry, and 24 hour reporting. This year, with the events in Ukraine, Gaza, and now Iraq, newspapers certainly have no shortage of copy.

But what I would like to know is how the term 'silly season' translates in other parts of the Anglosphere. Is there typically a silly season, and how is it described?


texts: “I consider that …” in place of “I think that…”

texts:
I often see people use the verb “consider” in place of “think” as in

  (a)   “I consider that this project will be completed in three years,”
  (b) “We consider that this deficiency can be overcome by using a different material” or
  (c) “I consider that this clause should be deleted.”

My understanding is, “consider” can take a that clause when it is used to indicate an assessment (e.g. “I consider that he is very talented” though “I consider him very talented” is much more likely) or point out a fact that needs to be taken into consideration when making a decision (e.g. “We have to consider that he is still a child.” But other than these cases, the construct “I/We consider + that clause” sounds unnatural to my ear.

Would you say sentences (a), (b) and (c) above are acceptable?

Now that I think about it, many of the people around me who use this construct have law-related jobs. Perhaps it is legalese?

Thank you.


texts: What does "hog log" mean and where does it come from?

texts:
I recently read the following line (emphasis mine):

  What hog logs or sacred cows in the organization should we eliminate?

I gather from the context that "hog log" probably means something like a single point of failure, but I'm not sure.

What does "hog log" mean in this context?

Re: those asking for citation. This line came from an organization email from a native English speaker.


texts: MEXT English Exam: "cope with acknowledge"?

texts:
I am doing the MEXT English Examination in 2014 (Questions | Answers). I encounter this question II. 10. :

The organization says more than half of depression sufferers are not
receiving treatment because many (     ) acknowledge their illness.
A. cope with.
B. fail to.
C. hope to.
D. put up with.

I thought the correct answer should be B, but it turns out to be A. I am not an English native speaker so I am not sure what does "cope with acknowledge" imply?


texts:
I have created a tool/database for the measurement of the time which is used to complete a specific process/workflow in my company.

One of the columns shows the time the workflow used to be completed, and one the time used with interruption. For example the workflow is to write a letter. I take the time from putting the paper in the machine until pulling it out of it. The total time is 5 minutes. But sometimes the phone rings, then I need to stop the time and so on. So the real time is not 5 but 10 minutes. To make a long story short. How can I name these two columns. Even in my own language I do not have a proper name.

Thankful for any hints
Greetz from Germany
Armin


texts:
What is it that makes people think, erroneously, that Creedence Clearwater Revival are from the South? Is it something in the way the singer John Fogerty pronounces?

In fact he's from California and he doesn't sound Southern to me. I wonder whether his real accent (such as saying "toinin" and "boinin" for "turning" and "burning" in his song Proud Mary) make him sound Southern to the rest of the world, and whether the rest of the world would be right in thinking this.

Here are some of their hits:

Bad Moon Rising
Have You Ever Seen The Rain
Proud Mary


texts: This may seem like a stupid question from an English teacher (2nd year), but I am confounded.  What is the difference between writing an assertion to start a body paragraph versus writing a statement to begin a body paragraph?  My sophomores are working on their research papers and a colleague of mine said he keeps getting statements versus assertion sentences at the beginning of his students' paragraphs.  Is there truly a difference between the two?  I thought as long as the "topic sentence" mentioned a part of the premise/assertion from the thesis statement, the body paragraph was set up to argue and support that particular line of argument.  Am I just getting caught up in the minutiae or is there a literal difference.  I want to be clear and concise so my students learn from this experience and I don't want to confuse them or teach them something that is incorrect.  This is verbose, but I appreciate any and all advice.


texts: Should a comma be used between "us" and a noun describing "us"?

texts: Example: When she needed help moving, she asked us four men.  When she needed help moving, she asked us, four men.


texts: How do you make a statement about the past without saying anything about the present?

texts:
If you say "I wanted to be a fireman" it implies you no longer want to be a fireman.
If you say "I wanted to be a fireman, but this isn't to say anything about the present" it implies you do still want to be a fireman.
Is there a way to talk about the past without saying anything about the present? In other words, can you get to "zero" about the present or are you stuck negating or not negating the previous statement in relation to the present?


texts:
My parents were watching a TV show (the show is Arrow, I believe) and in the show, one of the characters said something along the lines of "you're wasting both of our times." They came out to me and asked me if I thought it should be the "time" or "times," because neither of them were quite sure what it should be. I wasn't sure either, but I thought "times" seemed a bit more correct.

What is the proper word here?


texts: Is 'fer' a somewhat usual spelling of 'for', or is it perhaps restricted to cricket ('five-fer')?

texts:
-fer
a suffix to any number, meaning the number of wickets taken by a team or bowler. (See also fifer/five-fer)

Wikipedia
I assume that 'fer' means, or is derived from, 'for' with the usually following number omitted. As you would say '5 for 46' (in cricket; meaning 5 wickets for 46 runs against you; so 'five-fer' would indicate the number of wickets taken only).
Is 'fer' a somewhat usual spelling of 'for' or 'for [something]'? Or is it only used in cricket? If so, how did that come about?


texts:
I'm writing a thesis about the etymological analysis of swearwords (profanity) in the English language; that is, I need to compare British and American English regarding the etymology of their swearwords. I am aware that there is a substantial amount of swearwords in both languages and I'm wondering what is the predominant source language from which swearwords evolved.

I can't seem to find any etymological analysis of swearwords online, even though many articles mention how this area is thoroughly studied. I'm quite desperate. Any suggestions on literature are most welcome. :)


texts: Etymology of the word *plane* as used in *airplane/aeroplane*

texts:
I was curious about this etymology since plane retains a distinct meaning that only applies to airplanes whereas other words like aircraft, airship, airliner, air-vessel, air-boat, aeromotive, etc. all have meanings of the non-air (or aero) part of these words/phrases that are more generic.

Wikipedia is uncertain if the word is derived from Latin or Greek:

  comes from the Greek ἀήρ (aēr), "air" and either Latin planus,
  "level", or Greek πλάνος (planos), "wandering".

Wiki's sources for Latin are Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and for Greek are both Oxford Dictionaries and A Greek-English Lexicon.

Dictionary.com cites the 2017 Random House's entry with the opinion that plane may be from the sculptural aspect of the aircraft as a relative flat thing similar to forme plane:

  1870-75; < French  aéroplane, equivalent to aéro-  aero- + -plane,
  apparently feminine of plan flat, level (< Latin  plānus; cf. plain),
  perhaps by association with forme plane; apparently coined and first
  used by French sculptor and inventor Joseph Pline in 1855

The 2017 Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas-Harper argues that there was a pre-existing meaning of any heavier-than-air flat thing (like Beetles' wings) to be called planes:

  1866, originally in reference to surfaces such as shell casings of
  beetle wings, from French aéroplane (1855), from Greek-derived aero-
  "air" (see air (n.1)) + stem of French planer "to soar," from Latin
  planus "level, flat" (from PIE root *pele- "flat; to spread"). Later
  extended to the wing of a flying machine. Meaning "heavier than air
  flying machine" is first attested 1873 and probably is an independent
  coinage in English.

But the entry then adds the comparison to the Greek almost as a way of sort of hedging it's bet:

  Greek aeroplanos meant "wandering in the air," from planos "wandering"
  (see planet).

I also found this explanation attributed the American-Heritage Dictionary:

  plane in the sense of “winged vehicle,” first recorded in April 1908,
  is a shortened form of aeroplane. In June of that year plane appeared
  in a quotation from the London Times that mentioned one of the Wright
  brothers. Aeroplane, first recorded in 1866, is made up of the prefix
  aero-, “air, aviation,” and the word plane, referring to the structure
  designed to keep an air vehicle aloft. Originally the plane in such
  contexts was imagined as flat, hence the choice of the word plane; in
  practice this surface must curve slightly in order to work. The word
  aeroplane for the vehicle is first found in 1873. The first recorded
  appearance of the form airplane in our current sense, which uses air-
  instead of aero-, is found in 1907. An American flies in an airplane
  while a Briton still travels in an aeroplane, but both can catch a
  plane.

From all of these, I see three distinct theories evolving for the word plane as it is used in airplane/aeroplane:

Plane, like planet, is derived primarily from the the Greek word planos meaning wandering (per Wikipedia quoting Oxford Dictionaries and A Greek-English Lexicon; also alluded to by Online Etymology Dictionary)
Plane, like plain is derived primarily from the Latin plānus and the primary feature is the sculptural features of the wings being flat and level as in forme plane (per Wikipedia quoting Merriam-Webster Dictionary; per Random House Dictionary; per the attribution to American-Heritage Dictionary)
Plane is derived primarily from the French planer meaning to soar (per primary theory given by Online Etymology Dictionary)

Anyone able to clear this mess up?


texts: Help writing a clever analogy for an essay

texts:
I'm a final year high school student trying to write a university essay on the importance of insight (deep understanding) or intuition in physics as opposed to math which relies on rigorous formulation.
Can anyone think of a clever statement expressing the importance of 1) a deep understanding (insight) and 2) mathematical formulation or rigour, those two requirements being expressed in the light of a clue  that both are necessary for physics to work and that physics cannot exist without both.
I was thinking that maybe an analogy like “intuition and math are to physics as...”.
Edit:
A more precise context, as requested:

“Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight—insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments.”

I want a statement expressing the necessity and importance of both insight and mathematical formulation; the basic idea of my paragraph is that physics cannot work without one of them, and how I learned that as I matured academically


texts:
I have a problem with conjunctions in the first conditional. How do these apply to the first conditional?

  I’ll wash the dishes as soon as this TV show is over.

  Call me as soon as you get in.

  I’ll sit outside until it gets dark.

  I will keep looking for my car keys until I find them!

  I’ll finish this report before I leave tonight.

  Please take the garbage out before you go to work today.

For me, these above don't look like the first conditional at all. Where is the condition + result pattern in them? Could anyone explain it to me?


texts: Not to Mention ≈ [Let Alone ≈ Much Less ≈ Still Less]

texts:
For brevity, I symbolise synonymity with ≈.  So  X ≈ Y  means  X and Y are synonyms.

From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/let+alone: let alone ≈ not to mention

From Merriam Webster:
let alone ≈ much less ≈ still less.

Are these all synonyms? What are the similarities and differences between each?


texts:
What is a jigger of Asperger's? The context paragraph is:

  Page was not a social animal—those who interacted with him often wondered if there were a jigger of Asperger’s in the mix—and he could unnerve people by simply not talking. But when he did speak, he often came out with ideas that bordered on the fantastic. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, he became obsessed with transportation and drew up plans to replace the school’s mundane bus network with an elaborate monorail system, providing a “futuristic” commute between the dorms and the classrooms.

Source: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/03/mf_larrypage/all/1


texts: Abbreviation 'p.e.p' on postcard from 1928

texts:
I am a first year History and English BA student in Devon, England. I am currently writing an essay examining primary sources, one of which is a postcard. I was wondering if you were able to offer any light on the content of the message written on it?
The note says:

  This is where we had lunch yesterday, the most wonderful view you can imagine - this doesn't give any idea of it but we were unable to get any more p.e.p.

I was wondering if you had any idea what p.e.p. stands for/refers to? It is a black and white photographic postcard from 1928.