texts: The use of indefinite article next to a parenthetical

texts:
Context

Trevor was intrigued by the problem associated with the use of the indefinite article a. The two versions of the sentence that sparked this reaction are as follows:

Version Gamma:

  The tragic element is this: it should not require an (ostensibly fairly
  rare and not-trivial-to-obtain) external substance to make such a
  thing an every-day reality.

Version Epsilon:

  The tragic element is this: it should not require a ( fairly
  rare and not-trivial-to-obtain) external substance to make such a
  thing an every-day reality.

Questions

1) Is version Epsilon grammatically correct?
2) What is the technical nomenclature for the problem that occurs between ostensibly and fairly relative to their position to the indefinite article?


texts: use '/\' to denote that one missed something while writing

texts:
I have seen many people use '/\' to denote that they missed something while writing the sentence. Then, above that symbol they write what they missed. Are you aware of this practice?

Let's say, I am writing an exam (hand-written) where I have to write an essay and while writing the essay, I missed some words that I had to write. Rather than writing the whole sentence in full again, is it acceptable that I denote a '/\' between the words where I missed something and write the missing words above the symbol?

Is there any 'universally' accepted way of incorporating something that one missed while writing. Or start the sentence all over again?


texts:
When we talk about lightning and thunder, we generally use the words like this:

It's lightning
It's thundering
The antenna was hit by lightning

But sometimes we use thunder in the past tense...

It thundered twice before lightning hit the tower.
It rained heavily yesterday and thundered so severely.

Now, how do we use the word lightning in the past tense like the word thunder? Does the verb 'lightning' have a past tense?


texts: Which is correct: "... where a is a constant" or "... where a is some constant"

texts:
I noticed both of them are used in academic papers.

If both of them are correct, is there any difference between the two?


texts: Why has Southern US English all but abandoned adverb forms?

texts:
In Southern US English, adverb forms are almost always replaced by their adjective forms.  For example:

  The journey was awful long.
  He's running real fast.
  He ran to the store quick.
  He plays tennis good.

This seems something unique to Southern US English.  What dynamic is there in that region that has resulted in this loss of a distinct adverb and adjective?


texts: What's the difference between "every time" and "everytime"?

texts: What's the difference between everytime and every time? I'm a little confused about them, they both seem to have same meaning. Excluding their spelling, are there any other differences between them?


texts: What's the correct word to complete this sentence?

texts:
Whilst doing my homework, I realized that I couldn't choose an answer for the following sentence problem:

  But when household gadgets break down, ⸻ are carried out by 82 percent of husbands.

A. repairs
B. fixings
C. fittings
D. amenments

I am sure that C and D are wrong. Is it A or B?


texts: Is it wrong to use "one" and "had attained" in place of "a" and "attained"?

texts:
I used to have one credit card, but I dropped it in the designated box after I had attained my objective.

Is it wrong to use one and had attained?


texts:
I was looking for a slightly more informal equivalent for "install" (which seems to carry a certain connotation of the procedure being somewhat complex or elaborate), and I've found the phrasal verb "put in" in dictionaries, where it's defined as "to install or set up; to fix a piece of equipment somewhere and connect it so that it is ready to be used;

Longman notes that "Put in is more common in everyday English than install and is used especially about things that are not very complicated to install"

It's not something I've used or heard a lot- maybe I just haven't been paying attention- so is the definition accurate? Is "put in" used in this way? And does it mean anything to Americans (I'm particularly interested in American English but all answers and observations are most welcome; I'm asking since Merriam Webster doesn't list it as having the meaning of "install").

A few examples (would you use put in in the following cases? If not what would you?):

We decided to have a new bathroom put in.
The workmen are coming to put the new windows in today
They removed the bath and put in a shower instead
They’re putting Paul’s new stove in next week
I've just had central heating/a new kitchen put in
We’re having a burglar alarm put in
They're putting in a new meterless parking system across the city that uses your smartphone to pay instead
We had to put in a second internet router so we could get Wi-Fi throughout the house
I heard that the neighbors are going to put in a pool in their back yard
We put in a new washing machine


texts: Is there an expression or idiom that means "do something in secrecy but with a good intention"?

texts:
What is the most suitable expression or idiom that can complete this sentence?

I want to do charity _________ (in secrecy) because I don't like showboating.


texts: What is it called when someone hates disabled people?

texts:
I’m having an argument with someone else who keeps telling me that racism is hating any kind of person. He keeps telling me that racism is sexism, etc.

I just want to know what the term for a person that hates disabled people (like mentally or physically disabled people) would be so I can prove him wrong. I know that’s a little ridiculous, but whatever.


texts: Word to describe something as inadequately small in comparison

texts:
I'm looking for a word that would describe y as being 'pale in comparison' to x.

So an example is a fantasy story where X and Y receive special powers from their gods, with X gaining a full body transformation while Y only has their weapon enchanted. Then X says to Y:

"Now this... is a blessing... that... is [insert word here]".

Some words I thought of that have similar meaning are:

food scraps
afterthought
leftovers
trifling

Edit

Am trying to look for something that's more supernatural based. But I'm not looking towards something as extreme as a curse. Something like a minor blessing. I'm willing to accept words that replace blessing with a stronger word e.g. miracle and use blessing as the lesser word.


texts: Why is "hysterical" applied to women but rarely to men?

texts:
hysterical :  affected by or deriving from wildly uncontrolled emotion,
  Janet became hysterical and began screaming.

Why is the adjective hysterical usually applied to women and rarely to men?

For what it's worth, Google Books shows 42,700 hits for hysterical woman and 2,820 hits for hysterical man, but the fact is I rarely hear hysterical used in reference to men.


texts: Usage of "whose" not referring to a person

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Referring to some attribute of an inanimate object — use “who's”?

I noticed the use of "whose" in the following sentence I wrote does not refer to a person:

  A recent post on Less Wrong, Levels of Action, reminded me of a game I created whose dynamics I wanted to explore.

I use "whose" in this way fairly often.  I'm just wondering, is it correct Standard English?  If not, what would be a more correct way of expressing the same thing?


texts:
Should this:

  We believed the issues which would be on the agenda were too problematic at the time"

Be like this?

  We believed the issues that would be on the agenda were too problematic at the time.


texts:
First of all, let me give you these example sentences:

there is a storm
there was a storm
there has been a storm
there had been a storm

Every one of the above examples expresses that there certainly is/was/... a storm.

Now I would like to express that I think that there maybe is/was/... a storm, for example because I saw all the fallen trees. In the present tense it is very clear: there must be a storm.

If I want to say the same in the past perfect the word must won't change: there must have been a storm.

What I do not understand is what type of word must is this example is. Why doesn't it change? If I say I must go to school it changes to I had to go to school in past perfect because must is a Modal Auxiliary then.


texts: How does one state they have a unit of the latest Google Glass glasses, given the way "glasses"  is plural but "Glass" as in Google Glass, is not?


texts: Term for when embedded media cannot be displayed on a web page?

texts:
When a web page goes missing, it is said to be "not found" and the afflicted web site often reports the infamous HTTP 404 Error.

With embedded media, the user is not navigating away to another web server. Rather, the content from another server is embedded directly into the page. For images this is known as hotlinking. For documents (e.g., PDF or HTML), video, and audio there does not seem to be a single term; sometimes inline linking is used.

What is a good term or phrase to use for a non-technical audience when inline/embedded media on a page cannot be presented to the user (for any reason)? For example, the term should apply equally well to the following scenarios:

A YouTube video that has restrictions applied (such as age or country).
A video that has web page embedding disabled.
An image was deleted from the server (local or remote).
A hotlinked image that has been replaced with a generic "no hotlinking" image.
An invalid URL was used for the embedded content (i.e., a broken link).
A PDF document within an inline frame that is empty, unavailable, corrupt, etc.
An audio file cannot be played.
Server for referenced media is unavailable (offline, no DNS resolution, etc.).

For example, this could be expressed verbosely as:

  The web page contains embedded media that is no longer available.

From the comments, one possibility is to express the situation as:

  The web page contains a dead link.


texts:
Which is the most correct one?

Wear the shoes

Put on the shoes

Most of the cases 'wear' is used for cloths or dresses. When it comes to speaking, I have seen some people use both of these.


texts:
How can I say this sentence? With 'where' or 'which'?

  The city of Copenhagen, where I have never been to, is the most-visited of all Scandinavian cities

Or

  The city of Copenhagen, which I have never been to, is the most-visited of all Scandinavian cities
  Thank you so much


texts: Which is correct: To "take a medical leave" or to "take medical leave"?

texts:
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionaries Online, leave is an uncountable noun when it is used to mean "a period of time away from work for a holiday/vacation or for a special reason." Thus, one should say or write,

  He's taken sick leave since last week.

However, I found the following sentences both added an 'a' before leave. Are both "without a" and "with a" in front of leave acceptable, even though the dictionaries I've consulted with don't show that leave is singular?

  At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence
    so I can focus on my health. (from Job's letter to Apple Staff as he takes new
    medical leave of absence)

  Steve Jobs' decision to take a medical leave from Apple Inc. was probably
    triggered either by an infection, a rejection episode related to his recent
    liver transplant or, most likely, a recurrence of his pancreatic cancer,
    experts said Monday. (from The Los Angeles Times)
  P.S. One can find the usage, "to take a week's/a month's leave", in dictionaries. But, I don't think it is relevant to my question. It seems just another usage.


texts:
Do predation and predating share a common etymology?

Predation seems to imply that one species holds precedence over another species in the food chain, whereas predating seems to imply that one event holds precedence over another in the linear progression of time.

Both words obviously share the prefix pre, but my question is more about the dat part of each word.

What is the origin of dat in early English or in Latin or the Romance languages Latin gave birth to?

And how does that origin explain the meaning of the modern words predation and predating?


texts: Why do people use all 3 components in their gender pronouns?

texts:
When people talking about their gender pronouns, why do people use all 3 components?

For example, I identify myself as a male, so I understand the use of "HE", but why people use "HE/HIM/HIS"? Is it possible to have your gender pronoun as "HE/HER/THEM"?

(FYI, I'm not a native English speaker but fluent)


texts: How do you say you're speaking on behalf of a group of people?

texts: I have an English assignment where I have to speak on behalf of a marginalised group, I've chosen dyslexia, as my brother is dyslexic, but I'm not sure how to exactly put it into persuasive words. Can anyone help me please? Thanks a million.


texts: A group of people that (ARE) or A group of people that (IS) - proper usage?

texts:
Which sentence is right?

A group of people that are

OR

A group of people that is

I am aware that there is this grammar rule concerning relative pronoun that states something along the lines if 'X of Y that ABC' then ABC must agree in tense of the Y and not the X. However, I am not sure if this is also applicable for a group of people that ... because a number of people that (in this case must be) are...

It would be great if you guys could help explain!


texts: Is there a word for a rookie computer programmer?

texts: I'm looking for something like "greenhorn" or "neophyte" that applies specifically to writing code. Does this word exist?


texts:
What is the proper interpretation of "catch a distant trumpet of an entirely new point of view"? (I only know that an American artist wrote this and that she was in England at the time.)

January 19: I fly on the night of January 23rd. I know that as my foot crosses the threshold of the airplane, my spirit will lift. In my guidebook I have scouted out the topography of Paris so that when I arrive I can align myself north, south, east, west. And I continue to review my French.
French money is engraved with the portraits of artists: Delacroix, de La Tour, Montesquieu, Debussy; I am astounded, and catch a distant trumpet of an entirely new point of view. I wonder if, by way of similar extraordinary facts that I cannot predict, I may feel more at home in Europe than on my deeply loved stretches of land in the United States. Something stubborn in me hopes not, and in recognizing that part of me I suddenly know why I never sought out Europe when, for years of my life, I had ample opportunity: I am afraid of its wisdoms, leery of challenge to the little developments of my own that I have struggled for and the independence of which I cherish, perhaps inordinately.


texts: Word for personality that mimics their past inferiority/subordination

texts:
Is there any word that describes a particular personality of people who in the past have been subject to subordination or inferiority and when later they go up the ladder and become slightly powerful treat their subordinates the same way.

Like, who has been micromanaged in their early career and when they become a manager they try to micromanage their team. Even Marilyn Manson has song about this called Slave Only Dreams To Be King:

  Slave never dreams to be free
  Slave only dreams to be King

I found Doormat but that doesn't cut it since it focuses on still being an inferior and it's a little informal. I'm ESL so I might be wrong.


texts: I tutored an American exchange student in Finland last year and occasionally he, on Facebook, would say something like "word thank you" or simply "word" and he said it means "okay". I was curious and tried to do a bit of research but didn't really find anything. Is this kind of use for the word "word" in any way common? Where does it come from?


texts: What is the word for someone who has (or had) the same job as someone else?

texts:
I mean two people who have the same job, but do not work together at the same place. I'm thinking about the word "counterpart", but I'm not sure about it!
For example, considering two American film directors such as Spielberg and Altman, can I say that Altman (who is dead now) is Spielberg's late counterpart?


texts: Treat similarly named patches equally: is this correct English?

texts:
I'm a software engineer wanting to use a short but clear text like the following as a selectable option.

Treat similarly named patches equally

Should I should use -ly with both of similarly and equally?

Or are the following alternatives better?

Treat similar named patches as equal
Treat similar named patches equally
Treat similarly named patches equal

What I want to say is that all patches with an equal or almost equal name (thus similar), should be treated in the same way. The result is that patches considered to be in the same name class will be overwritten or referenced as a group instead of being copied separately. Possibly in the future 'Treat' may have other consequences, like being restored or not etc. So it can be considered as performing an action on two patches who have a name that is similar to the other (when enabled) or not performing the action (when disabled).

By the way, patches can be substituted with something else, eg items; it is not the issue.
Note, similar patches is a different concept than patches with similar names; here, the focus is on names of patches.


texts: 'typeface' or 'font'? Which term is better known to a layman?

texts:
I'm designing a simple CMS in which users (non-experts) can, among other things, choose from a select group of typeface-combinations.

Although not entirely correct ( I believe?) I could also use 'font combination' to explain the feature. What would be the best way to describe the feature to English speaking that are not into typography / design jargon?


texts: Reported/Indirect speech of "Words fail me."

texts:
For all grammar gods,

I have a question regarding the appropriate way to use indirect speech to report someone saying, "words fail me."

Normally, I would say: "He said that words failed him."

This sounds perfectly legitimate and also follows the general grammar trends I teach. However, I found myself defaulting to want to say something else, instead.

I kept using the phrase: "He said that words had failed him."

This is contrary to what would be taught in a grammar book or a grammar course. This confuses me, but the more I think about it, the second one sounds more correct.

Please help.


texts: I've been asked to explain the use of best in the phrase "humans have found how best to live together" other than saying its an adverb I'm stumped, could someone wiser help me out.


texts: Quotation marks around a new word when I keep using the word?

texts:
I'm writing a technical thesis and I need to explain the meaning of a lot of words. However I'm not a native English speaker.

  The so-called "blah" is a thing that does this and that.

Blah was an unknown word to the reader, but was explained after its introduction. It's going to be needed a couple more times in the thesis.
edit: I should mention that the words can be from a foreign language.

How do I handle quotation marks when I'm going to keep using those new words?
Do I need them every time the word comes up again, or only once? Or do I need them at all?


texts: Is there a difference between "at the example of" and "using the example of"?

texts: "This is illustrated at the example of Foobar." versus "This is illustrated using the example of Foobar." Are they interchangeable? If not, what is the difference?


texts: Is there a word for an educated person who doesn’t use it?

texts: My daughter it doing a report and needs a word for a highly educated person who does not use the education for the greater good of himself/herself or society. Any suggestions?


texts: When is the object of a verb the subject of the gerund in structure "subject + verb + object + preposition + gerund"?

texts:
1) This reminds me of climbing Ben Nevis years ago.

  2) I told you about losing my credit card, didn't I?

I'm quite sure that the person who climbed Ben Nevis is "I" not "This" in 1).
But, I'm not so sure that the person who lost "my credit card" is "I" not "you" in 2).

My question is when the object of a verb is the subject of the gerund in structure "subject + verb + object + preposition + gerund"?


texts: can I say '' Her team's 180 is proof of her talent as a manager'' rather than ''The 180 her team made is proof of her talent as a manager'' to indicate a change in behaviour? (180 degree turn)


texts: Why is "transferred" written with two R's?

texts: Why is transferred written with two R's?  I am a native speaker of Dutch, and in my point of view this isn't logical; there are other words like coloured and endeavoured that only have -ed added after the verb.


texts: Why is Beowulf considered one of the most important works in the history of the English language?

texts:
Apologies if this is too subjective of a question.

I'm currently studying Beowulf. I've seen it referred to as one of the, if not the first, most influential works of Anglo-Saxon literature. Some ventured so far as to refer to it as one of the most influential works in the history of the English language.

What qualities of Beowulf make it so important?


texts:
Which one and why?

To face a direction
To face in a direction

Context: Use this method to ensure your character always faces in the direction they are moving in.


texts: Grey shadow that is visible even after a clean shave called?


texts: "Synyster Gates/Gates' being left handed"

texts:
I texted a friend "I was wrong about Synyster Gates being left handed" earlier this morning, and I realized that I don't know if the word "being" here is something Gates possesses, or if it is a verb. I am leaning toward it being something Gates possesses.

Which sentence is correct?
"I was wrong about Synyster Gates being left handed."
Or "I was wrong about Synyster Gates' being left handed?"

Also, I couldn't find a previously asked question about this topic, but please point me to it by providing a link if there is one.


texts: Alternative to "consumer" that encapsulates viewer/reader/listener/etc

texts:
I'm looking for a word that refers to one who xes a piece of media or describes the action of xing a piece of media, where x is the act by which one experiences that work, and where "piece of media" means an informative (i.e. characterized by its provision or conveyance of information, but not necessarily edifying or educational) work. Viewer/viewing works for film and television, reader/reading for prose and poetry, listener/listening for music and spoken word, but none are agnostic to the type of its respective medium.

I'm specifically avoiding consumer, partaker, and user due to the implication that the work is destroyed when one xes it.

I'm not averse to simply writing reader/viewer/listener, but if a briefer alternative exists I would be glad to learn of it.


texts: Is “the best thing since sliced bread” supposed to be taken sarcastically?

texts: On one day my boss said that a tool I had created to speed up my work was “probably the best thing since sliced bread”. Neither one of us is a native english speaker and we don’t also have any similar saying in our language, so it was a direct word-to-word translation. I assume that his intentions was to praise the work I had done, but is that the correct usage of the phrase? I would say that sliced bread was not so great invention, and if I had used the phrase, I would have used it sarcastically.


texts: Can you make the difference between 'Here you go' and 'There you go' explicit?

texts:
I think most native speakers have an implicit understanding of the difference between 'Here you go' and 'There you go', although the difference in use between these expressions is small. I'm not a native speaker though I also have some understanding of the difference but I'd still like to formalize the (difference in) meaning.

In my understanding 'Here you go' would be used more often when you're actually handing someone a physical object, while 'There you go' is a little more abstract, like someone reaching a conclusion. But it can be used for something further away as well.

However, the expressions can be used interchangeably somewhat. But in what cases would you do that? For example, is there ever a reason to make you choose 'There you go' when handing somebody something?

Bonus points for references to 'Here you are/There you are' and why the linguistically similar 'Here we go/There we go' means something completely different. Perhaps there is a common origin?


texts: Are there any conversational equivalents for completion as a noun?

texts:
When we talk about things like a to-do list for example. You may have a list of "completed tasks" where "complete" here is an adjective describing the state of the task. Is there a way to speak about the completion as a noun that makes any kind of sense?

For example, I wanted to say that I completed n tasks, but the tasks included things that would not be typical task list material. The only comparables I came up with were "achievements" or "accomplishments" but both seemed a little too over the top for what I was trying to convey and also feel awkward as nouns. For example, "I had 14 accomplishments." doesn't read naturally, but, even if it did, makes the tasks seem far more important or impactful than they were.

So, are there any conversational equivalents for "completion" that make sense as a general noun?


texts: A specific compound, fuse, link, hitch etc. synonym needed

texts:
I am going through a couple of thesauruses (thesaura?) looking at alternatives for words like 'link', 'join', 'hitch' to find an apropriate one for my abstract context. My problem is that 1) as always, these dictionaries are quite unhelpful in picking up the differences, and 2) as a non-native speaker, I encountered some of these words only in particular contexts, while they may be much more generic, meaning my mental association can be flawed.
Basically, what I have are 'extensions' or links, chaining things together, which exhibit the following properties:

Each link adds a single unit;
Both the nature of the connections and the chained units are important;
The whole compound is an entity which exists in itself, with a separate purpose, not as a collection of its components, so words like 'listing', 'point' are out;
It is not homonogenous, each 'link' is a distinct, recognisable section of the whole, so words like 'blend' are out.
There is no specific shape, or puzzle-like nature required of the connections;

Additional restrictions:

Words 'join' and 'catenate' are reserved;
Word 'link' (and probably a couple others) are too generic and thus sadly out.

To confound things more, I have two very distinct types of this kind of thing I need separate words for:

An extension-like thing, which is like adding another bullet point to a list: what came before is still a part of the compound, and the added unit is in no way special among those before it;
An annex/appendix-like thing, where what came before is 'closed off' and the unit added is clearly distinct from the previous ones. The word 'annex' actually isn't bad, but is one of those that seem to be used only in certain contexts and I fear might sound strange.

They both use essentially the same mechanism and the difference is largely in interpretation/use and not their core nature. I hope I did not overdo it in an attempt to help highlight the specifics?


texts: Does "Asbestos sandwich" have nuances of bad health?

texts:
In "Clive James in Japan", part 2, which was created in 1986, James says during a bullet train ride that he doesn't know whether he's buying smoked ham or a pair of tights, but that it can't taste worse than a classic British Rail asbestos sandwich.

Does "Asbestos sandwich" have nuances of something being bad for your health (as we now know asbestos can cause mesothelioma), as opposed to it tasting bad and possibly being un-nutritious?


texts: Must "work" be defined as something involving payment?

texts:
In different languages "work" means almost the same:

"activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result"

However, there's no clear definition if it's must be paid or not.

I always thought "work" is something you must get paid for – otherwise it's not work.

Am I wrong? Could you please clarify this to me(with reliable sources of course, and not just an opinion – I value that too, tho).

Thanks.


texts: Does the phrase "begging the question" make any sense?

texts:
I know what "begging the question" originally means, but I just can't make any sense of the idiom. The phrase really seems to have nothing to do with its own meaning.

The original Latin phrase, petitio principii, is often translated as "assuming the initial point," which quite simply explains the practice.

Does the phrase "begging the question" carry any meaning (related to what it's used for)?


texts: Which is better: "related more" or "was more related"

texts:
It actually related more to his genetics than his behavior.

or

  It actually was more related to his genetics than his behavior.


texts:
What does the phrase "red rovering" mean? Here is the context:

  Over a decade ago, Billy Bob’s career began in the corporate world before red-rovering to agency life.


texts: Is it correct to use the word "something" to describe a plural form?

texts:
Then, as I continued gazing at her, something came to my mind. They
  were the remnants of the dream I had before waking up.

Is that grammatically correct? If not, what's the closest alternative?


texts: What is the correct use of "never" when using present perfect

texts:
I'm writing a short story and a friend corrected my use of the present perfect.

I wrote: "The painting summoned emotions she HAS never felt before".

He suggested: "The painting summoned emotions she HAD never felt before".

My short story is written in the present tense, so I am inclined to stick with my variant. However, I am now unsure since English is not my native language (it is my friend's).

P.S.: I'm having a difficult time finding a better title for this question. Suggestions are welcome :).


texts: Is there an alternative way of saying "important stuff"

texts:
I want to write an email to my supervisor and ask him to provide me a guideline for things I should be careful with, while I will be working on a project.

Is there an alternative and shorter way of expressing the following: "things to be careful with" , "things that should be taken into consideration" , "things not to do", "things to avoid".

I am looking for a single-word, simplistic version of the above-mentioned


texts: Difference between "pangalactic" and "transgalactic"?

texts:
I am building a game and trying to give some fancy names to some objectives in my game.

So, I was wondering about the difference between the words pangalactic and transgalactic?

Does any of them mean something that is spawning across multiple galaxies? I am looking for a set of 3 words that go together in the following context, like :

  a.  Planetary b.  Galactic c.  Inter-Galactic

Can I use "pan-galactic" or "trans-galactic" in place for "inter-galactic"?

[P.S: I tried searching online for the prefixes pan- and tran- but was still not really clear about the usage.]


texts:
I just edited this answer on unix.sx. The original sentence was

  But it won't transform it to an other format.

I changed this to

  But it won't transform it to another format.

The second form is standard, but is the first correct?


texts: "would we not" vs. "wouldn't we" in questions

texts:
Is there a difference between the following two sentences? Is the second sentence grammatically wrong?

Why would we not expect the body to revolt?

Why wouldn't we expect the body to revolt?

Is it correct to say the first sentence puts an emphasis on the negation, meaning that it's a bit shocking that we do not have that expectation?


texts: "Listen to me play the flute" vs "listen to me playing the flute"

texts:
I see this expression "He listens to me play the flute".
Is it correct ? And what about ""He listens to me playing the flute".
What is the current form of this expression.
I didn't find the answer either in dictionaries or grammar books.
Thank you.


texts: "can you tell me why to do?" & "can you tell me why not to do?" these two Questions only can replace by meaning of should & shouldn't?

texts:
I think these two questions are ok to use with Should & Shouldn't and it's same meaning

can you tell me why to do? = can you tell me why I should do?
can you tell me why not to do = can you tell me why I shouldn't do?

"can you tell me why to do?" this means only can be "can you tell me why I should do?" ?

what if I want to use them as below

can you tell me why to do? = can you tell me why I do?
can you tell me why not to do = can you tell me why I don't do?

is it possible?

Thanks in advance :)


texts: In "Bat Out of Hell", should "Out of" be capitalized?

texts:
Should either or both words in "out of" be capitalized (e.g., Bat Out of Hell)?

I wanted to clarify because the "o" is commonly capitalized in any Google search hits.


texts: Non-gendered collective title for a group of people in a business context

texts:
In a work context, what is a good word for addressing a mixed-gender group of people?

Currently, "guys" seems to be fairly popular, but does have male overtones." Is there a really nothing better?

A few examples where your suggestion should fit:

"Guys, who's working on the .."
"Which one of you guys broke the build"?
"We should ask the IT guys"

I'm after a fairly informal, everyday, word, but "peeps" is probably too informal.


texts: Identifying the verb(-phrase) and object in a sentence

texts:
What is the verb(-phrase) and the object in the following sentence:

"Many of them were able to begin buying their own homes."

Case 1:
    -verb(-phrase): were able
    -object (infinitive clause): to begin buying their own homes

Case 2:
   -verb(-phrase): were able to begin buying
   -object: their own homes

So "Case 1" or "Case 2"?

I would be really grateful for an answer. Thank you very much in advance.


texts:
Consider the conversation below. Is the last question correct?

  A: What did you think about it?
  B: I thought it was terrible.
  A: You thought it was terrible?

It sounds a bit strange without the auxiliary verb.


texts:
From New York Girls by by Finbar Furey

  Shipmates listen unto me, I'll tell you in my song
  Of the things that happened to me
  When I come home from Hong Kong

  CHORUS:

  To me a-weigh, you Santy, My dear Annie
  Oh, you New York gals, Can't you dance the polka?

What is "a-weigh" and what is a "Santy"?


texts: The particular word or phrase for description

texts:
Detailed descriptions are used in poetry and prose[fiction or even non-fiction] to paint a vivid, detailed picture in the minds of the readers.
Authors achieve this feat using vivid imagery about a person or scenery or the emotional height of a particular situation.
What is the word or phrase used to describe this detailed description? I first thought of 'narration', but it didn't seem suitable.
Thank You.


texts: Why does the speaker use the indefinite article in 'This is the last time you are seeing A guy like this'?

texts:
Last night I was watching a movie and towards the end of the movie there was a dialogue which goes like this -- "This is the last time you are seeing a  guy like this."

The speaker was telling this about himself to a number of people. So the question is, if the speaker is specifically referring to himself then why is the noun guy  not preceded by the instead of a?


texts:
Is there a word for a person who effectively manages multiple tasks over a long period of time?

For instance, when you manage your finances, your family, your goals, etc.


texts: What scientific field studies diagnostics?

texts: What is the name of the field of scientific study which covers "the process of diagnosing the cause of problems", independent of any specific knowledge domain? i.e. it would cover the common elements (like diagnostic tests) that occur whether you are seeking to diagnose a disease or debug a computer program.


texts: A word to describe something being large, beyond comprehension?

texts: I'm looking for a word or even scientific term to describe something being so large it is beyond rational comprehension?


texts: Where should the relative pronoun be placed in the following example?

texts:
Which of these two statements is correct?

I am writing this for an unethical person I have no intention of making whose name public.
I am writing this for an unethical person whose name I have no intention of making public.

I tried many sources but I could not find an answer to this. Is it necessary to place 'whose' right after 'person'?


texts: What's the difference between 'cutlery', 'silverware' and 'crockery'? Are there any differences between them?


texts: What do you call tiny underdeveloped segments of an orange?

texts:
Sometimes after peeling your orange, you notice that there are also some underdeveloped segments inside it (figure 1), or at its base (figure 2).

What do you call these tiny, underdeveloped segments, which are shown by arrows in these pictures, in (casual) English?

In Persian, we casually call them the "orange's baby". Like:

  "Oh, look! My orange has babies too."

I just could find that type 2 is seen in navel orange as an underdeveloped twin fruit.


texts:
I am a native German speaker and we are currently translating a protocol for students to English.

We are asking questions and wonder what would be correct, a or b? and why.

a) Why are we using a recycling system?

b) Why do we use a recycling system?


texts:
I found a phrase "Sale on now" from a website. I think it is to tell customers that some products are currently offered at the lower prices. But what is the correct order of saying this. I personally think it should say "On sale now" but I also found someone saying "Sale now on".

Which one is correct?

Thank.


texts: is there a word for half sibling's half sibling?

texts: I have a half brother on my mom's side. He has a half sister on his dad's side. Is there a single word/term for describing that sister's relation to me? Currently I just say "my half brother's half sister".


texts: Idiomatic expression related to "cat-putting"

texts:
I lived in a scholarship house for all of one year when I was in college (in the US). At the end of every year, they held an event that they called "The Cat-Putting" in which a few residents would take turns telling a story. In the story they passed an imaginary cat to each other, but the primary focus of the story was to gently razz or roast all of the residents.

I remember that it was explained at the beginning of this event that it was dubbed "The Cat-Putting" because of an idiomatic expression that had something to do with cats, but I can't figure out what that expression might be.

Does anyone know what saying this might refer to, and how it might relate to this event?  And has anyone else ever heard of a "cat-putting" or is this an event that is restricted to this one particular house?


texts: We used to say a make-up exam, how about the make-up lab experiment when we miss an experiment?


texts: Difference between "polemical" and "contentious"

texts:
Is there any difference between "polemical" and "contentious"?

Example sentences describing people:

Daniel sometimes could be quite polemical.
A contentious person is someone who likes to argue or fight.

Example sentences describing things:

It is easy to be polemical about communism.
The contentious vote has raised tensions in the South American country.

Can't see any difference between these two words...


texts: "Nobody but him was present." or "Nobody but he was present."

texts:
Nobody but him was present.
  Nobody but he was present.

Which is the correct usage and why?


texts: What is the equivalent of the Brazilian phrase "complain to the pope"

texts:
Maybe due to Brazil's Christian colonization, we have a sentence that some people use to reply when nothing can be done to solve a problem: "complain to the pope".

Is there any equivalent in English? Examples of sentences that can be replied with it:

I was over taxed by the government this year, what should I do?
I was fined for parking my car in the wrong place, I don't even have a car!
The government delayed the payment of our salaries this month.

It is like a dead-end situation where you can't do anything.


texts:
What should be the correct spelling for "-wise" combinations in adverbial coinages like "sportswise," "weatherwise," "businesswise, "saleswise," "taxwise," etc.?
Should it be "NOUN wise," "NOUN-wise," or "NOUNwise"?
I'd instinctively go with the "NOUNwise" spelling but my spellchecker says it's wrong and suggests both "NOUN wise" and "NOUN-wise" as alternatives.

wise
A suffixal use of wise in adverbs denoting manner, position, direction, reference, etc.: clockwise; edgewise; marketwise; timewise.
usage: The suffix -wise is old in the language in adverbs referring to manner, direction, etc.: crosswise; lengthwise. Coinages like marketwise, saleswise, and weatherwise are often criticized, perhaps because of their association with the news and entertainment media: Moneywise, as they were already saying in the motion-picture industry, Hollywood was at its peak. This suffix should not be confused with the adjective wise, which appears in such compounds as streetwise and worldly-wise.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary


texts:
Does one say:

"500 bags were stored inside container number MSCU 849817-5"

or:

"500 bags were stored inside the container number MSCU 849817-5"

Thanks in advance for your replies and explanations guys!


texts: I have never used the word tomorning.   Can I use it like tonight, instead of today morning?


texts: What's the difference between "fluctuate" and "teeter"?


texts: A word for "to be completely invisible except to those who have been chosen"

texts:
I have searched everywhere, but I cannot find a word or two words that define the following:

  To be completely invisible except to those who have been chosen.

Basically, I am in search of a word that means "to be invisible to everyone except the people I choose".

Is there such a word? Or is there more than one word for this?


texts: An act that is intended to help someone, but remained unnoticed by the beneficiary

texts:
Please help me define the following condition using a single word.

A kind act that is supposed to help someone, but was actually unnoticed by the intended beneficiary.


texts: What's the etymology of the word "Nothing-burger"?

texts:
Breitbart today:
Ingraham on ‘Nothing-Burger’ Manafort Indictment: ‘If They Had Something on Trump, That Would Be the Indictment Today’

What is the source for the term nothing-burger?


texts:
I hope this is not ridiculous to ask (and I will try to focus on a question, rather than discussion) but have I missed something regarding the use of the word women to refer to a single person? I have noted of late in reading news articles on respectable sites (like bbc news of all places, where one might expect them to be good with English) increasing occurrences of the word "women" when the context suggests one person. Example here:

"[...] let out hearty cheers and one women jumped to her feet, clapping her hands. The feeling in the auditorium was friendly."

or

"Those allegations involving hitting; one women claimed she’d been choked in the stairwell."

As two relatively recent examples. Did I miss something in connotative usage? Or is this somehow just becoming a common mistake that I hadn't noticed so much before?


texts: A place that is away from your normal life?

texts: How do you describe, using a noun, a place you can escape from your old life but only temporarily. It kinda feels like a summer house, but bears no relevance to the seasons. I have thought about the word 'seclusion' but it seems to have nothing to do with a place, rather more like a state.


texts: There's a word I need, but I can't think of at the moment

texts:
I need a word to fill in this blank:

  LIZZIE
  Of course not. But, which supervillain is your dad?

  CANDI
  I shouldn’t say anything.
  (Looks back at her taco salad, affecting __________ )

  LIZZIE
  Shouldn’t say anything? You know who our parents are.

  KEN
  Yeah, Candi. That’s so not cool.

  CANDI
  No, you guys don’t understand.
  (Looks back up at them, then bites her lip and looks around the room. She leans forward, prompting Lizzie and Ken to do the same.)
  I’m kind of undercover. My dad sent me here with a job, and I’m positive he’ll see me telling anyone about who he is as jeopardizing that job. Preferably, I’m not even supposed to be using my real name. But, I felt more comfortable with it so I begged my dad to not make me change it.
  (Leans back against the seat, then tilts her head to the side)
  But, perhaps, if we were a team, you know, allies, friends, etc. He would be okay with me telling you who he is.

This probably does not provide nearly enough context, given that this is an excerpt from a play I am writing, so allow me to elaborate:

Candi is a conniving character, and she is in the process of manipulating these other two characters into doing what she wishes. To do that, she's trying to come off as timid and hesitant as if she really wants to tell them who her father is, but can't. In a sense, she's playing innocent. (Hence the lip-biting and head tilting in her mini-monologue) So, what word would I use in the blank that has a similar meaning to innocence/intimidation/hesitation? I know it's a word I've used before, but I'm drawing a blank.

(For further details on the specificity of the word I'm looking for: The parenthesis indicate that this will be a word written in a stage direction for the actress)

I did look at the answer to this question  What is a word that means "someone who pretends to be your friend but is actually your enemy?" but that just gave more words to describe Candi. I'm looking for a word to describe the person she's pretending to be. This will drive me crazy until I find out.


texts: My son has modified a car that he considers to be capable to do things that it shouldn't or more-so that he uses it for purposes it shouldn't withstand but does. He can't remember the word he thought of that totally describes this conundrum, if you will. It shouldn't, but it does. I suggested sin but he scoffed! Do-able but not do-able. Impossibly possible.


texts: What is the word when you destroy small part of a building or something big

texts:
I think destroy and demolish don't the fit actual idea I'm trying to describe. Let me give an example; let's say we have many columns in a building and we only want to 'destroy' a single column. Is there a specific word for that? Is there a word for destroying a part of a whole structure?

Disclaimer: I'm not a native speaker of English.


texts: Operating System Concept, A Translation is need?

texts:
Who can translate the following sentence in a simple manner?

  Between garbage collections free space will build up, which cannot be
  reclaimed until the next time the garbage collector runs. This is a
  form of fragmentation.

Thanks to all.


texts: Different forms of the abbreviations for "identification"?

texts:
Which of the following are correct?

      right   wrong
ID    [x]     [ ]
i.d.  [x]     [ ]
I.D.  [ ]     [ ]
Id    [ ]     [ ]
I.d.  [ ]     [ ]
id    [ ]     [ ]

Marked the ones I found on dictionary.com

And what are the correct pluralized versions?


texts: Term for "opposite" items that are actually similar

texts:
Is there a term (like "pseudo-synonym") for things that are colloquially considered opposites when in fact they are part of the same set on a higher level?

For example, "cats and dogs" are "opposites" but in reality are both quadrupedal animals. Or "apples and oranges" which are both actually fruit from trees.


texts: Adj. for doing something to someone in a way they won’t know it’s me

texts:
Please fill in the blank with as many words as you can think of:

I’M GOING TO GET REVENGE ON HIM IN A very  _____ WAY (I’ll get revenge but they’ll never know it was because of what they did to me & they’ll never know it was me that got revenge)

A word that almost means hidden, sneaky, sly, etc.


texts: How to construct acceptable phrasal verbs

texts:
Native speakers using Phrasal Verbs very frequently, because it can express a lot of meanings.

but

Is there any rule that I can follow to construct acceptable phrasal verbs?


texts: How to describe this unrecognizable content?

texts:
In programming, I got the following content which is unrecognizable in the output.
When communicating with others, how should I describe the issue I encountered in more natural way?
In fact, this unrecognized contents should be other languages, like Japanese. For example, DeltaGundamk デルタガンダム。But the program didn't deal with this correctly.

Is garbled characters the term to describe these characters?

Chinese developers call it 乱码.
Japanese developers call it 文字化け(mojibake) .

Links:
1. Mojibake


texts:
Does the following correctly express potential consequences of meeting someone?

  A chance encounter is a great idea. However, in this case, chances  would be very slim to meet her this way. Even worse, if I went out of my way to meet her socially and randomly, chances that her two roommates would accompany her are pretty significant.

This question arose from my latest post on seddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/ed4at/trying_to_get_with_a_9_but_she_is_hesitant_to/ as I was contriving the comment to one of the responders. Feel free to suggest modifications to my actual post.


texts: I see some domain names have "icanhaz" in them. I think there must be some story behind it. Do you guys know?


texts:
I read the following sentence in a newspaper, but I don't understand what it means.

  It's been a while since Germany had so many good players.

Could someone explain what it means?


texts: Which one is correct, "best wishes to you" or "best wishes for you"?


texts:
Oxford dictionary defines wouldn't be seen (or caught) dead as meaning:

  informal Used to express strong dislike for a particular thing.

I am wondering about both the conceptual and textual origins of this phrase.

As far as I can tell, the conceptual origin is that even if the subject were dead, and thus had no control over what happened to them,  they still would not do something. This explanation is also offered here:

  It means, of course, "Even if I were dead I wouldn't..." The illogic behind this is part of the charm—it demonstrates the extremity of the feeling being expressed, as well as lending a touch of the picturesque.

An alternative conceptual explanation is offered by @cobaltduck:

  Suppose I was somehow convinced to do X, but while doing it I had a heart attack or was struck by lightning, or... When my body is discovered, the evidence around me makes it clear I had been doing X at the time I died. I won't hear the derisive remarks, won't suffer the embarrassment, won't feel any of the repercussions. Yet that is how people will remember me, "Cobaltduck died while Xing." I do not want that to happen, therefore I will not X.

The idea is that the subject won't do something because they fear their corpse will be found in the act of doing it, thus shaming them posthumously.

Alternately, and less plausibly, some people conjecture that the phrase is linked to the phrase dead to rights (for example, here).

There are thus multiple viable explanations of the phrase. But is there any evidence that one should be favored over the other?

I am also curious to know about first textual occurrences of the idiom and its variants. For example, did "wouldn't be seen dead" take off before "wouldn't be caught dead"?

Lastly, I am curious to know if this is chiefly an American or British idiom?

Given that there seems to be no definitive answers elsewhere on the internet, I figured I'd ask the questions here.


texts: Under what circumstances can the word "be" be used directly without any change?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should I use the subjunctive mood?

2 examples first:

1.It is announced that the accounting class of the 3rd and 4th hours on the morning of this Wednesday be cancelled

2.It is expected that everybody and each household be on guard

Someone told me this kind of examples above appears in the textbook as strict sentences to be taught in the classroom, so is that right for the usage of be

Meantime I looked up the word be at thefreedictionary.com and found one piece of interpretation says that way:

  Archaic Used with the past participle of certain intransitive verbs to
  form the perfect tense: "Where be those roses gone which sweetened so
  our eyes?" (Philip Sidney).

So is there any connection between the archaic usage & the examples above? BTW, how to understand the short phrase "the 3rd and 4th hours". Many thanks!


texts:
What are the differences between the two acts "Climb" vs "Climb out" ?

thanks in advance


texts: I need your help to set all rules for extracting names/concepts from a phrase. for example, in the phrase "in toshka, it's always sunny"  the name/concept here is toshka, which is a place in Egypt. i found it because it's a Preposition followed by a Noun  What are other rules for finding entities/names?


texts: Do question tags after dependent clauses form complete sentences?

texts:
Most often, it seem question tags are used after independent clauses to seek agreement with the complete idea expressed in said clause.
'He went to the store yesterday, didn't he?'
However, in some forms of media, and in everyday life, sometimes question tags come after clauses that could not stand on their own as a result of dropping the subject of an independent clause, and it creates a sort of inverted question.
'Had fun, did you?' (from: 'You had fun, did you?)
'Think you're so clever, do you?' (from: You think you're so clever, do you?)
'Real proud of that one, aren't you? (from: You're real proud of that, aren't you?)
I'm curious to what extent the above usages are correct, and if there is a specific term / specific rules for these usages.
Thanks in advance (:


texts:
Can anyone please tell me why we don't use inversion after "only a few years ago"?

Today I was doing one of the CPE exercises from Side and Wellman and I encountered the following sentence :

  "Only a few years ago the herring gull more often than not remained close to the sea and nested on cliffs."

My question is, why don't we use inversion here after "only a few years" as I have always been taught that, after "only + when or the specific time" we use inversion.

  "Only when Mohegan scouts led them through the woods did the settlers stand much of a chance."

Is that not true ?
I  have already checked plenty of sentences in COCA none of which used inversion. Why ?


texts: Prepayment management or Credit Management?

texts:
I am a software programmer developing a system for a theme park, which take orders from multiple travel agents.

Before the travel agent can make any order, the agents have to pay certain amount of money to the theme park first. When the theme park process the order, the amount is deducted from the balance.

My questions:

Should I call this system "Prepayment Management System"? one of my colleague suggested "Credit Management System" and "Account Balance Management System"
Should I call the balance "Prepaid Balance" or "Credit Balance"?

Why I ask this question is because I feel weird to call it "Credit Management", it sounds like the theme park is taking order "on credit", like the park take the orders first and then send an invoice to the agent, so the agent owes the park some money.


texts: Adverb placement: "There is still" vs. "there still is"

texts:
I believe the following sentences are grammatically correct and that perhaps the latter has an emphasizing effect on still in certain contexts.

There is still some time left.
There still is some time left.

I thought the adverb placement rule that adverbs must come after the be-verb (source) is not absolute but rather like a guideline. My friend claims that in spoken English, the second example is fine, but in written English, it is technically ungrammatical.

My questions are:

Are both sentences grammatically correct?
Am I right to think that there are many cases of adverb usage that do not follow the typical adverb placement rules such as the one mentioned above?

Thank you for your input.


texts: Prepositions with verbs in the end of sentences through 'and' or 'or'

texts:
Can we use verbs and prepositions in the end of sentences through 'and' or 'or'? And if we can't, how should we rephrase it?
For example: I have someone to talk to and play with.


texts:
Is there a known term for the action of extending a noun to become a verb like term ?

I have a few examples which usually stem from a certain type of 'biz-speak' like the latest article : Grouplization

I find the act repugnant and it just never fits right with me but personal opinion asside, other examples are :

Operationalize
Recontextualize
Problematize
Languaging (????)

There are obviously some which are valid, but what is the name of the process of transforming the word into some made up 'biz-speak' ?

And is there any strict merit to the validity of the concocted word?


texts:
I read the following sentence

  "They seemed like a double drift of stars, streaming through space."

In this passage:

  "...Then this blood began to change too. Instead of a continuous liquid stream, Maskull perceived that it was composed of a million individual points. The red color had been as illusion caused by the rapid motions of the points; he now saw clearly that they resembled minute suns in their scintillating brightness. They seemed like a double drift of stars, streaming through space. One drift was traveling toward a fixed point in the center, while the other was moving away from it. He recognized the former as the veins of the beast, the latter as the arteries, and the fixed point as the heart."

What does "double drift of stars" mean here?


texts: Enthusiastically interested in OR truly interested in?

texts:
Which one is correct?

Enthusiastically interested in ...

OR

Truly interested in ...

Example: I'm enthusiastically interested in chess.


texts: Alphabetizing List of Mixed Words and Acronyms

texts:
I am creating a glossary that includes both acronyms and multi-word definitions, and I'm wondering if there is a standard/most-appropriate way to sort them.

I have tried to search for alphabetization rules and come across seemingly conflicting standards.  A few are listed below.  There is no governing standard at my organization, so I'm having a hard time choosing which is most appropriate.  Perhaps all are equally valid - that's why I'm asking.

NSIO - alphabetize acronyms letter by letter, as written
Dartmouth University - alphabetize acronyms as if they were spelled out
McGraw Hill - alphabetize 'unit by unit', with an acronym being a single unit
Something I Remember But Can't Find an Online Source For - put the acronyms at the front of a given letter section (in order), followed by the real phrases.

Here is a contrived example.

NASA - See National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration - The US space agency...
NATO - See North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization - A military alliance...

(Sorted here based on letter-by-letter)


texts: What does 'subject' mean in the following passage?

texts:
"...Plenty of biographers dramatize their narratives with descriptions
  of emotions, highly coloured scene-setting, or strategies of suspense.
  Some go further, and deploy full-scale fictional methods: invented
  meetings between author and subject, imaginary episodes, musings on
  the identity of the biographer, and hypothetical conversations."

Thank you in advance.


texts: Can words like "what" be the subject of a sentence?

texts:
In a question like "Who hears a noise?",  is the subject of the sentence who?

I can think of a few tests for subjects like: "the subject is the phrase that inverts with the auxiliary to form a question". But this is a question and there is no auxiliary. We could say that's because it's a subject, but that would be just to presuppose that it's a subject in the first place.

I can think of tests like: "the form of the verb will agree with the number of the subject", but on the other hand who does not seem to have  fixed grammatical number, and it sometimes seems like who might actually be agreeing with noun phrases later in the sentence:

Who are the most prolific writers of our age?
Who is the most prolific writer of our age?

There are also tests like "the subject is usually the first noun phrase in the sentence". But of course if we have a question like:

Who have you bitten?

... you, not who seems to be the subject. The first noun phrase test is not very good.

I also know that some theories of grammar say that there is a gap in wh- questions that the wh- word is extracted from. So can this gap for instance be the real object of a question? If so, is there a gap in questions like mine functioning as subject?[See community wiki post in the linked to question]

How can we show whether who is really the subject of my original example question? And how about other wh- words like what? Can they (also) function as subjects?


texts: Which is the best way to say "this is my life and my family's life we're talking about."

texts:
A) "This is me and my family's life we're talking about."
B) "This is my and my family's life we're talking about."
C) "This is mine and my family's life we're talking about."
I assume "my life and my family's life" would be unnecessarily long, wouldn't it? (although it adds some emphasis and weight to the statement )


texts: Blunt, brusque, curt, and terse -- is there a gradation of connotation here?

texts:
I have two related questions.

Do each of these 4 words have negative connotation regarding intent? (E.g., rudeness, malice, inappropriateness, etc.)
If so, is there a gradation (or scale) of rudeness or negative emotional connotation associated with each?

If I wanted to describe myself as someone who responds to questions in a manner that is to the point, short-worded, professional, etc (and not reacting to emotion or demonstrating sympathy), which word would adequately describe myself without carrying negative connotation (since I wouldn't want to associate a negative adjective to myself).

Please provide support for your answer!!

Although this SE question addresses brusque vs. curt and this SE post addresses blunt and brusque, the answers to both questions are mostly contradictory, incomplete, and unsupported.


texts:
I take pride in my ability to deliver a warm and friendly welcome to whomever I meet.

My reasoning is that I am doing the meeting and the object is merely being met, hence whomever.


texts: Exclamation before or after the interrogation? Doesn't matter?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a standard ordering for the question mark and the exclamation mark used together?

Which is correct:

Was That Folk!?
Was That Folk?!

Or both? I always use the former. But the SO FAQ uses the latter.


texts:
In the sentence

  In this lecture and in the ones to come...

is the second "in" necessary? Or is the sentence

  In this lecture and the ones to come...

correct?


texts: A phrase to describe the idea of 'high literature'?

texts:
We have terms like 'high culture' and 'high art'. They are used to describe things deemed of a higher quality, or held in higher esteem, than products of popular culture.

We also have terms like 'art music' and 'art film'.
What I'm looking for is a similar term to describe literature.

Like high literature or art book or art novel, none of which I've heard being used.

For example, we can say:

  John wouldn't like Transformers. He only watches art films.

But what about:

  Harry wouldn't like Tom Clancy. He only reads ..... (what?)


texts: Word for bringing supply chain into a business

texts:
For example, a company that makes telephones might develop expertise in chip making thereby avoiding reliance on a 3rd party supplier.

What is the word or term for this business practise?


texts: Why is "well" used with linking verbs instead of "good"?

texts: As any grammar handbook, English teacher, or parent correcting a child will tell you, you're supposed to say "I don't feel well" instead of "I don't feel good." Well rather than good seems to be used with other linking verbs, too (e.g., "Are you well?"). However, the rule for other words is that adjectives, not adverbs, are used with linking verbs. We say "I feel sad," not "I feel sadly," and "He feels tired," not "He feels tiredly." So why is well, an adverb, preferred over good, an adjective, when used with linking verbs? What makes good/well the exception?


texts: Reason for different pronunciations of "lieutenant"

texts:
While Americans (and possibly others) pronounce this as "loo-tenant", folks from the UK pronounce it as "lef-tenant".

Why?


texts: Present Perfect, American English and "since"

texts:
I'm wondering: I was always taught at school  that when using "since", you always have to use Present Perfect (BrE), e.g.

  Since when have you played chess?

But is

  Since when did you play chess?

acceptable in AmE? Which option would the AmE speakers rather use?


texts: This is either a spelling or a pronunciation anomaly; I'm not sure which.  Why is "eye" pronounced as the letter "I"?


texts: Term for describing defensive reflexes when no harmful action is being initiated

texts:
A little background:

I wanted to button up my sleeve, so naturally I moved both of my arms up to my chest level and that is when my friend thought I wanted to hit him so he took a defensive reflex.

The thing is this scenario happened multiple times when he would just take a defensive reflex in such situations.

I said "stop being paranoid", But a friend of me argued that paranoia is not the word to describe this situation. I kind of agree, paranoia is an overstatement. But what other alternatives do I have ?


texts: Was “remake” as a noun coined by the movie industry?

texts:
Remake as a verb has a long history:

  1630s, from re- "back, again" + make (v.) (Etymonline)

but its usage  as a noun appears to  be a much more recent one;    according to Google Books  its earlies usages date back to the first decades of the 20th century,

and,specifically, as a term meaning a more recent version of an older film:

  As a noun, of movies, from 1936.

The remake of movies in those years was probably incentivated by the passage from silent films to talkies and by the advent of color movies. For instance:

  Ben-Hur, the classic 1959 film that won a record-setting 11 Oscars and had, at the time, the second highest gross ever, is actually a remake of the 1925 film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which itself came after yet another version of the film, the 1907 silent short Ben Hur. From (allthatsinteresting.com)

Whatever the reason, remake as a noun appears to be closely connected to the movie industry, and apparently was initially  used within that context.

Questions:

Was “a remake” originally and first used to refer to movies, or other forms of entertainment such as theatrical pieces for instance.
Was it an AmE usage originally?


texts: How did “pumpkin” come to be a term of endearment?

texts:
The logic of some terms of endearment is fairly clear.  Sweetie, honey, cupcake all refer to food treats.  However, the use of the term pumpkin as a tenderness seems somewhat counterintuitive.  While reasonably tasty and the basis for making some treats (pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie), on its own it is a rather prosaic vegetable. Its appearance is also not obviously in the category of beautiful flora.

Dictionary references are not much help.  Only two of the online dictionaries in onelook.com list the affectionate definition.  Collins offers, without etymology or example,

  often capital (mainly US) a term of endearment

Wiktionary gives one definition as

  (US) A term of endearment for someone small and cute.

It cites only to the lyrics of a song by John Prine from 1991, Daddy’s Little Pumpkin.

A search on Google for the term little pumpkin (a search for pumpkin is beyond my patience) shows a fair amount of usage in the later 20th century and the 21st century as an affectionate nickname.  One of the earliest, in that period, appears in the 1951 novel by Myron Brinig, The Sadness in Lexington Avenue

  Let me hear it. Frieda, my little pumpkin, my little sugarplum

There are few 19th century references using pumpkin, somewhat sweetly, but not quite as an endearment.

In 1867, The Little Corporal, a children’s magazine published a story that included

  for Matie was almost as round as a little pumpkin

This appears to be a straightforward description, not very complimentary, about shape.

In Forrest’s Illustrated Juvenile Keepsake,1851  there is reference to another apparently roundish child

  If a little pumpkin, like Dumpy Dorcas, had rolled upon the snow, what harm would have come of it?

In The Child’s Friend and Family Magazine from 1858, there is a reference to an American Indian character in a story whose English name appears to be Little Pumpkin.

So, whence the acceptance (by some) of pumpkin as an affectionate reference for the apple of your eye?


texts: Word denoting "the time it took to assign a task to someone"?

texts:
Is there a word in English denoting the time it took to assign a task to a person?
This word is to be used in a web page design to display a certain task that is assigned to a a specific person and the time it took to assign.

Task#: 123
Assigned to: MR. Nobody
Assigned <the-word>: 10 minutes

The first thing that hits my mind is to use "Assigned in: 10 minutes" but I think it is not trivial. There should be a better phrase to communicate the idea without being vague.

Any alternative phrase communicating this idea is also appreciated.


texts:
Could anyone please let me know possible styles of walkings related words in English?
For example: walking, running, staggering, jogging etc


texts:
I am designing a User Interface for a system.

Users can upload files, but the files are not necessarily authored by them.

I display the name of the user who uploaded the file, but I am unsure how to title this.

'Uploader' comes to mind, but this is apparently something I have made up as it does not appear in the dictionary.

Is there a word to describe this type of person?


texts:
Can one say “as on” in the following lines:
Drops of rain gather
As on a burning forehead.
Is there a better alternative?
Thanks


texts: Can a colon split a verb and the rest of the predicate?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Punctuation to introduce a list: comma vs. colon vs. nothing

Is this use of a colon incorrect?

  I wrote an application whose features
  included: doing this, doing that, and
  doing something else.

If so, why?  Is it because what precedes a colon must always be a complete sentence, or because—from Strunk & White—a colon should not separate a verb from its complement, or a preposition from its object?  Or both?

Am I correct that the correct form would be simply

  I wrote an application whose features
  included doing this, doing that, and
  doing something else.

Or even

  I wrote an application that had many
  features: doing this, doing that, and
  doing something else.


texts: Can I use 'firsts' referring to people and not to goods?

texts:
From Collins English Dictionary:

firsts:
saleable goods of the highest quality.

Anyway, can I use the same term as a plural of the noun first and thus refer it to people? I would use it in an expression like:

Claude-Louis Navier and Augustin-Louis Cauchy, the firsts to introduce the concept of...

Is it correct?


texts:
So the company evaluates the employees every year and those who satisfy requirements in the evaluation can keep working in the company.

  X is required for ----?

employment extension? expansion? ...?


texts:
I had in mind for a long time that: Highering is a correct word for the title definition.

However I doubt this is a common used word even if I find the definition in the 1913 Webster dictionary http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/highering

  Highering \High"er*ing\, a.    Rising higher; ascending.    [1913
  Webster]

as most of the automatic correction on my computers says it's wrong (including google suggest)


texts: What is the syntactic function of "called a typedef" in the sentence "C provides a facility called a typedef"

texts: What is the syntactic function of the non-finite clause "called a typedef" in the sentence "C provides a facility called a typedef."?


texts: Slash or hyphen in constructions that imply a combination?

texts:
Would you use hyphens or slashes in constructions that imply a combination? Examples:

A yard group / yard steering conflict (meaning a conflict between a yard group and yard steering)
A building week / structure week / platform combination
The Program A / Program B communication (where "Program A" and "Program B" are names of software programs)


texts: I wonder why threescore means sixty. I only found it means three times twenty, the math is correct, yet what link between twenty and "score" ?


texts: Employee transfers his work to another employee when leaving a company, what is the employee handing work over and that receiving the work called?

texts:
In my new job, I have been asked to receive the work of an employee who has been transferred to another team, and to prepare a document stating whatever they have handed over to me.

My questions are:

Is there a specific name for such a document? What will I write in the title of document? How do I search Google for a sample report?
In the document, how shall I refer to the employee who is handing over the project files and material? I need a word for it.
How shall I refer to myself, that is the receiver of the project mater, in 3rd person?


texts:
I'm building a search engine for businesses and I'm wondering if there is a single word for 'how you're found'.

The context is that I need a word to describe a group of properties that determine when the business will show in the search results. The best I came up with is 'Exposure' but my girlfriend thinks its too abstracted.

Any help would be super!


texts: Another phrase/word for recovering/rebounding from setbacks?

texts: Is there a better way of saying "rebound/recover from setbacks" within less than 4 words? Or even a single word for it?


texts: Does the phrase " pick someone brain" have the meaning of "ask someone" and is it often used?


texts: What are the differences between simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences?

texts:
These two sentences came up in a English Comp class and there was some discussion if the book was correct on whether they were simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.

  Whatever pizza Lucy orders is a meal in itself.
  You can choose whatever crust you prefer and size you prefer.

I feel that the sentences are unnecessarily contrived; but could someone explain how you should properly parse them and define if the sentences are simple, compound, complex or compound-complex?

A simple sentence has one independent clause.
A compound sentence has more than one independent clause.
A complex sentence has one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses.
A compound-complex sentence has more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.


texts: I am trying to describe this weapon from a video game (Daggertail from Prince of Persia : Two Thrones). However, I am not sure how to describe the shape of the links which make up the daggertail (not the end). The closest fitting description that I could find is "Serrated metal links" which does not seem adequate. Would anyone of you be able to help give a more proper description of the individual link ?


texts:
And where does this expression come from?

I have tried looking it up and looking up nuclear separately but haven't found anything useful.

Edit: I've encountered this expression in the following sentence: "That nuclear orange jacket—believe me—fails to complement your lime green pants."


texts: Do I italicize or quote the title of a PDF for a citation?

texts: There're literally thousands of conflicting APA styles on the internet, even different universities with different professors using different standards. It's a truly atrocious system that does nothing but waste the world's time. How can I simply find the most recent and official English citation format for a scholarly PDF?


texts: Word that means "one out of a series must be true"?

texts:
I am trying to come up with a word or phrase that means "one out of a series must be true".

Example #1:

I have a list of roles that a user can belong to.  What is a word that describes a list of roles where the user may belong to one of them?  They could belong to more than one.

Example #2:

There is a list of requirements to be eligible for a prize.  You may meet multiple requirements, but you only need to meet one requirement to be eligible.

Sentence example:  The following roles are _______.

The best that I can come up with is "required roles", but, that seems funky to me as not all of the roles are required.


texts: Are there variants of "hold my beer" in different English dialects?

texts:
The phrase "Hold my beer/drink (and watch this)" is a rather perjorative bit of slang - it implies that the speaker can perform the same act (or stunt) that he just observed someone else perform, implying that the act itself was trivially easy.

Since it seems to be a decidedly American saying, are there similar expressions within British, Australian, Canadian, African, or Indian English usage?

I'm just curious here.


texts: What is the name for words which, when the order of letters is reversed, spell other words?

texts:
For example:

Lamina / Animal
Dog / God
Ogre / Ergo
Desserts / Stressed
Tuba / Abut

These are all anagrams, but they are a special type of anagram, where the order of letters is exactly reversed. They aren't palindromes, as they spell a different word when read backwards. I feel like there should be some sort of latin-sounding name for them, but the best I can come up with is the rather imprecise-sounding "backwards words", "mirror anagrams" or "reverse spelling pairs"...


texts:
I have a colleague who, in his technical documentation, sometimes likes to put entire sentences, or sometimes entire paragraphs, in parentheses. This looks wrong to my eye, but I'm having difficulty articulating precisely why. Should I be more tolerant of this style, or is there a reason why comments in parentheses should generally be restricted to phrases within a sentence and not form larger units of text?

In case this isn't clear, here's an example, adapted from some text I'm reviewing:

By default, the template to be rendered will be $root/template. (Variable
$root has a default value.)

(Previous versions of this program loaded templates from webapp/WEB-INF,
but in this release these files have been moved out of the web application.)

I think the goal here is to de-emphasise the subsidiary information, but I think it would be clearer without the parentheses.


texts: Is the expression "to get understood" correct?

texts:
Can I say

  Get yourself understood.

with the sense of "make yourself understood"?

Are both correct? Is there a difference in meaning between the two?


texts: Different pronunciation between Thomas and Theodore

texts:
Disclaimer: I'm no native speaker.

Thomas gets pronounced with a starting "T" (the "h" is silent), while Theodore with a "Th". What rule is followed here?


texts:
Our young grandson, who is a Mancunian, says 'give it me', and 'give it me back', which is a northern British standard.

It made me think that it is not only northerners who omit the indirect object preposition 'to'. Americans will say 'write me, and let me have some news'.

In the latter case the pronoun 'me' appears as though it has actually become a direct object of an alternative verb 'to write' which is transitive, but with a slightly different meaning to that used in 'write the answer in the left hand column'.

Does anyone else look at it in that way?


texts: What's the meaning of "shide" in this context?

texts:
There is a sentence in a book i am reading currently:

‘Doh. I wanna finish this head-choppin’ stuff and leave this shide
down.’

The character is telling his mafia boss to go into a place and behead the man they want to kill, but his boss tells him to wait. Afterwards he says this sentence. He is using a slang language as you can see and i couldn't understand "leave this shide down" part in the sentence.

He also says "Bloody shide down" before he swings his sword to kill the man. I would be delighted if you can help me with this word. Is this a slang or deformed word in English? Because its lexical meanings have nothing to do with the context.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Sports "which/that" I have to run vs sports "where" I have to run

texts:
I'm Italian and I don't know what the best choice is.

I don't like sports which/that I have to run.
I don't like sports where I have to run.

What's the right relative?


texts: When talking about Google Stadia, is it incorrect to say "the Stadia" when referring to it?

texts:
I'm not really well versed in when to use the word "the" in front of something, so I'll just go ahead and say what and why I'm asking.

I was reading a tweet where they referred to Google Stadia (a cloud based video game platform, which isn't really an object, but an online service with peripheral devices) using the wording "will be available on the Stadia".

Is this correct or incorrect, even as incorrect as it sounds?  I just figured it might be correct usage since it's a noun.


texts: Term for Uncountable Nouns, Mass Nouns which are sometimes countable

texts: While I know how to use the words that I use, I do not know if there is a term to describe words that are uncountable nouns, but at the same time are countable in other circumstances.  "Cheese" is one example perhaps.  I find researching this does not clarify anything - words seem to be countable and uncountable at the same time (depending on context) - is there a term for this or do we just have to accept the context rather than having an overriding term?


texts: A word to describing "successfully passing a sentry"

texts: Is there a word or phrase to that describes a soldier successfully passing a sentry and admitted?


texts: Which expression is correct? “in development” or “under development”?

texts:
When talking about a product or project that is still being developed (so it's in an unfinished state at the moment), which expression is the correct one? “in development” or “under development”?

For example:
Our product is in development. or Our product is under development.


texts: What does it mean that "what am I like"?

texts: Does it mean that you try telling me something about me?


texts:
For the sentence: "I envy your seemingly convenient reason for X."

The "I envy" is genuine. The guy I was talking to makes trips. Let's say we both ride motorcycles, and I envied his seemingly convenient reason to travel to some place. I'd like one, but I need to work at finding places to ride my bike to. I didn't know whether he went to that place out of obligation or because he liked it. If the former, seems like it'd be in bad taste.


texts: Does this say petitioner can make the decision on info discussed previous to this sentence, but after resolution doesn't apply to her decision?

texts: After conferring with each other concerning the foregoing matters, if the parties do not reach an agreement upon any such matter, Petitioner shall have the descretion to make the decision and the provision hereinafter set forth concerning resolution of disputes shall not apply to her decision.


texts: Is "paraphrased" the correct way to express an attributed quote with known origins?

texts:
This question and answer indicate that when the source of a quote comes from an unverified source, we may say it's "attributed", or that it's "apocryphal". Both of these terms imply that there is some error or uncertainty in who is credited with having said the quote being referenced.

However, I have a situation where the source of a quote is known, but the original version is an idea expressed over a few paragraphs. Over time, with many retellings, the idea has been trimmed down to an efficient and snappy phrase. So, I want to give credit to the person who had the idea, but use the snappy version that people are familiar with.

Note that no one person is known to have come up with the snappier version. Each retelling always attributed whatever version to the original source. Most people assume the original person said the snappy version the first time round.

Using a generic example, I was thinking that I would add the word (paraphrased), something like this:

  "A snappy quote is a short quote."

  ~ Joe McFamousguy (paraphrased)

But I wondered if maybe there was a standard for this kind of thing.

What's the best way to express that this is a variant or version of a quote, but that there is no uncertainty that the source is the correct one?


texts: "suggest you follow" or "suggest you to follow"?

texts:
For example, is it:

  We strongly suggest you follow the official guide.

Or:

  We strongly suggest you to follow the official guide.

?


texts: When does an aunt’s partner or husband become an uncle?

texts:
Being the youngest of five siblings, with relatively old parents, I’ve always referred to my aunts and uncles as such, even though in fact only one of each pair is a blood relative. It never occurred to me as a child that in fact Uncle Ron was my father’s brother, but Aunt Pat was related to me only via marriage to Ron. So is she really my aunt?

I raise this because I’m in a situation where I’ve married a woman whose brother has a young son. He was age two when we were first acquainted, and as his aunt and I were not married I was, quite reasonably, not given immediate uncle status. His aunt and I have since married, however, so does this mean I should now be referred to as his uncle?

For some reason I feel uncomfortable referring to him as my nephew  — I have other nephews and nieces via my own siblings — so I usually resort to “my wife’s nephew” or “my wife’s brother’s son”.

Any thoughts on this issue of when aunt–uncle status is acquired? Is marriage a precondition? Does the marriage need to predate the birth of the niece–nephew?


texts: Is there a word that means "When there's too much of something and people don't take interest anymore"?

texts: For example, there is a new style of shoe, and when there are only a few people who wear it, it's hip and trendy, but now everybody has a pair and it's ______. Or, there's a new and popular product that has a stupid sounding name. It's so popular and the name is said so often that the name doesn't sound stupid any more. The name has become _______.


texts: Are prefixes, as bound morphemes, always separable from their root words?

texts:
The root words in the examples below look fine even without a prefix:

  un + bearable
  ir + regular
  dis + able
  mis + fortune

... but not in these:

  pro + gress
  pro + mote

Possibly, I don't understand what a prefix really is. –pro in the above two examples may or may not be a prefix at all. But I would like to have these two points clarified.

1) Is it not always possible to separate a prefix from its root word because doing so will cause the root word lose all meaning?

2) Is it alright to look at –pro as a prefix in the above two cases because it's a prefix anyway and being detachable from its root word is not really a criteria for it to be a prefix?

Please discuss.


texts: Why is the letter "w" the only letter in (basic) English alphabet that is not read as one syllable?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why is a w a “Double u”, but an m is not a “Double n”?

Is there any reason/history as to why "w" is the only letter in English alphabet that is not pronounced as one syllable?


texts: I was curious, what is the origin of the phrase "to go west" or "to pass into the west" (as in the sense of to die)?


texts:
He was arrogant, dismissive of others work.
He was arrogant, a dismissive person allround.

Does 1. require an and conjunction as a rule or is ok as written? The second example sounds fine  with or without one.


texts: Origin and evolution of the term 'amen corner'

texts:
Geneva Smitherman, Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner (1994) provides this entry for the term "amen corner":

  AMEN CORNER 1) In the Traditional Black Church (TBC), originally the place where the older members sit, especially older women, the Church "mothers," who are perceived as the "watchdogs of Christ" and who often lead the congregation in responsive Amens. 2) Any section of the Church where the congregation uses many verbal responses and Amens. 3) By extension, outside the Church world, a reference to any area where there are expressions of strong support and high feeling for a speaker or performer.

Taken at face value, this entry suggests that "amen corner" originated in African American churches and from there spread to apply to places of warm support for a particular viewpoint or ethos in non-church (and sometimes non–African American) contexts.

I have three questions about "amen corner":

Where did the term originate?
What is the earliest known instance of its use in print?
How—if at all—has its meaning evolved over the years?


texts:
Growing up in both the UK and the US, and being comfortable with both their dialects, I'm sometimes slow to realize that some expression, word, or even pronunciation I use makes no sense to one group or the other.

I was watching a British program (programme) that mentioned a neighborhood watch scheme, and I don't believe I've ever heard it used like that in the US.  It seems that scheme always has a negative connotation in the US, while it appears more neutral in the UK. Is this assessment correct?


texts: Where does "the sky is falling" come from?

texts:
According to Wikipedia the common expression "the sky is falling" is from a folk tale:

  Henny Penny, more commonly known in the United States as "Chicken Little" and sometimes as "Chicken Licken", is a folk tale with a moral in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes the world is coming to an end.
  The phrase "The sky is falling!" features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.

Earlier versions of the tale have appeared in print from the beginning of the 19th century in northen european  countries (Germany, Denmark etc.)

Ngram shows   usage examples of the expression 'the sky is falling'  from the late 19th century.

Questions:

1) Was the expression coined in the English version of the tale or was it just translated from earlier foreign versions?

2) Can the expression actually have a much earlier origin, such as a biblical one for instance,  possibly with a different connotation?


texts: How did "as" amass all its confusing "broad and vague meanings"?

texts:
From Bahrych, Merino. Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell 5th edition (2017). 343:

as. Do not use the conjunction as when you mean “since,” “because,” “when,” or “while.” Its broad and vague meanings can create confusion. For example, As a potential work stoppage threatened to block the opening of school, the arbitrators revised the wording of the contract. Does as mean “when,” “because,” or “while”?

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=as doesn't answer my question. Incontrovertibly,

“since,” “because,” “when,” or “while”

are NOT completely synonymous. For example "since" can mean "because", but "because" can't mean "since".
More Examples. General Electric is the only company that has retained its place on the DJIA under its original name since because the index's inception.  When While did you last get your teeth cleaned?


texts: Is there a word for replacing foreign words with English substitutes?

texts:
On tonight's broadcast of NPR's All Things Considered, host Robert Siegel interviewed Ralph Keyes, who "writes about words for American Scholar magazine." The topic was a contest run by the magazine to find suitable English replacement words (neologisms, in this case) for four words which have been borrowed into English but have entered common parlance to varying degrees: mensch, frisson, schadenfreude, and sympatico/sympathique.

While the proposed neologisms were on the whole underwhelming, I did come to wonder:  is there a word for the conscious replacement of foreign words with English substitutes, either as an editorial action in a specific work or as a broader, sociolinguistics endeavor?  'Anglicization' came to mind, but I think of that more with respect to spelling or pronunciation (i.e., not wholesale word replacement).  Is there a term for this process?

(Incidentally, isn't it the French who have a semi-governmental process to guard against foreign word borrowings, at least as far as the official language,mwhatever that means, is concerned?  If so,mother obviously 'anglicization' can't be right, assuming this French body performs a similar effort to replace foreign words with French alternatives, officially or un....)


texts: What is the difference between "maintain a high level of quality" and "maintain a high quality level"?

texts:
I was wondering if there is a difference in the meaning between the two expressions..

Level of something
"Maintain high level of quality"

Something level
"Maintain high quality level"

Thanks in advance.


texts: What additional meaning does "as" impart to this phrase (see below)?

texts:
"I shall render assistance when, if, and as I can."

My question: What additional meaning does the word "as" impart to the sentence given above? It seems superfluous to me, but maybe there is a subtlety that I do not grasp.


texts: What is the adjective corresponding to Venus?

texts: What is the correct adjective corresponding to the noun Venus?


texts: "My Mule Dont Like People Laughing", Why "don't" is used instead of "doesn't"?

texts:
You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it.

This is a quote from Clint Eastwood in the movie A Fistful of Dollars
Why he used "don't" instead of "doesn't" for mule?
Link to the movie clip


texts: Word or phrase for "seeing meaning where none exists"

texts:
Is there a word or a phrase to describe an instance where meaning is ascribed to something where there is no such meaning or where the interpretation is particularly fanciful?

For example, when reading Shakespeare in English class or when viewing modern visual art in Art Appreciation class, someone mentions the 'phallic imagery or symbolism' of anything cylindrical in what is being read or viewed.


texts: Where should the 'not' be placed in the sentence?

texts:
Consider the following two:

To whom is the cruelty of Hitler not known?
To whom is not the cruelty of Hitler known?

Which one is correct? The second sentence seems very odd to me, and I can guarantee that if others use similar sentence to this, I would be unable to understand the meaning or have to struggle with that. But I want to know the opinion of a native.
And what about the following, contracted, sentence:

To whom isn't the cruelty of Hitler known?

And what does that form represent - is...not or is not?
Thanks


texts: One word for a person who doesn't act before thinking

texts:
What is one word for a person who thinks before they act? Like they think of the effects of doing something before they actually do it.

Example sentence:
Ally is________, she always thinks before acting.


texts:
In a recent open letter to “everybody”, famous visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk  uses the closing statement “Thanks for being awesome” (emphasis mine):

  From: Elon Musk
  To: Everybody

  Subj. Staying Public

  After giving this a lot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that the best path for the foreseeable future is for Tesla to remain a public company.
  There are certainly a number of very compelling reasons to go private, so this is far from an obvious decision, but, on balance, being public appears to best serve the interests of the people of Tesla and those who have invested in our future.

  Thanks for being awesome,

  Elon

I’m not familiar with this expression in business letters, so I guess it is sort of informal, “friendly” expression he, for some reason, used on such a delicate occasion.

Searching in google it appears it is a sort of meme that has catched on in recent times.

To my ears the expression sounds a bit disrespectful, considering all the fuss he created around the “go private” issue for Tesla so I wonder if

“thanks for being awesome”  is just a jocular expression or if its usage has become so common that above usage looks  apporopriate or
if it is just an original usage of an original entrepreneur or
am I missing something here?


texts: What is the difference of relation type of different and equal?

texts:
Why are different prepositions used for equal and different, like "equal to" and "different from"?
The prepositions are kept with negations:
"nonequal to"
"non-different from"
Thus it does not seem to relate to proximity.


texts:
From etymonline:

misgiving (n.)
c.1600, "feeling of mistrust or sudden apprehension," from misgive "cause to feel doubt" (1510s), usually said of one's heart or mind,
from mis- (1) + give in its Middle English sense of "suggest."

How does "mis+suggest" imply "feeling of mistrust or sudden apprehension," and "cause to feel doubt"?


texts:
Why do we use indefinite articles in sentences as follows:

  John is a doctor.
  Mary is training to be an engineer.
  He wants to be a dancer.