texts: Are prepositions a part of grammar or vocabulary?

texts:
If you fill in the blanks with prepositions, is it a grammar exercise or a vocabulary exercise, e.g.

He was here __________ the morning.


texts: what does "number one guy on a number two job" mean

texts: I just heard today someone saying "I was a number one guy on a number two job". I did not get what that means exactly.


texts: A word that means stage-fright, but for a person?

texts:
Suppose you met a famous person, and you were shy and anxious and almost overwhelmed by them.

Is there a word for describing that? Similar to getting stage fright, or "choking", except in this case for a person?

  When he said hello to me, I couldn't respond. I (was) __________.


texts:
Football commentators are not renowned for their erudition, but one particular usage I am finding wearisome. I am not writing this by way of complaint as I know that is not the purpose of the site. But I would be interested to know whether other people regard this as a correct use of English.

When an attacking player falls over in the penalty area one of three things may have happened:

1) He accidentally fell over.
2) He was fouled by a defender.
3 He 'dived', meaning he fell down deliberately in order to make the referee think he had been fouled and award a penalty kick (and possibly a red card to the defender).

Now in the inevitable cut and thrust of argument that goes on among the pundits following such an incident, they will say variously 'I don't think it was a penalty', 'It was definitely a penalty', 'It is a difficult decision, the ref is in no position to say whether it's a penalty or not'.

What they actually mean is 'I don't know if it was cause for a penalty' or 'a penalty should have been given'. In no literal sense was such an incident 'a penalty'. A penalty is potentially that which follows.

Are others satisfied that the Gary Linekers, and Alan Shearers of this world get it (the English) right when they say 'It was a penalty'.

The same sort of thing applies to free-kicks, corners and throw-ins.


texts: Alternative to using multiple quotation marks in a sentence for easier reading?

texts:
A character is going through file names on a computer. Short works usually go in quotes instead of being italicized, but is there a way to make this read less clunkily?

I went to his folder labeled “School Stuff.” I opened it and clicked on “Homework.” There was “Holodomor,” “The American Revolution,” “Book Report,” and “Huckleberry Finn.”


texts:
Moderator is a very old term in the sense still popularly used nowadays:

  Meaning "one who acts as an arbitrator, person who presides at a meeting or disputation" is from 1560s. (Etymonline)

Demod, a neologism so frequently used in recent weeks virtually on all SE sites, appears only in Urban Dictionary in a scarcely   visited entry which dates  to 2005.

  Altering the moderator into a member

Other in-between terms like “demoderate” or “demoderated” show no usage instances, so it appears that the construction is derived directly from the abbreviation “mod”.

Was  “mod” introduced with the growth of web sites an the proliferation of “moderators”, or was it used before the internet era? (I tried Google Books but with no success). When was demod  coined?


texts:
"Liceity", meaning lawfulness or legitimacy, is a word that seems only to be used to describe certain religious actions from the Roman Catholic point of view. The word is not present in any major dictionaries, including the OED, but this one has it for example. What is its pronunciation?

If possible, please give sourced answers, but don't hesitate to speak from experience if you don't know of any sources but do know the answer.


texts: Does "I have been exposed to" imply that I still am?

texts:
I still don't seem to fully understand the difference between these three:

I've been exposed to English as a kid
I'd been exposed to English as a kid
I was exposed to English as a kid

Could someone explain how they are different and which one I should use in this specific context?
From what I know, the first sentence makes no sense unless you are still a kid, and the second and the third sentences are both correct but the former is preferred in the UK.


texts: Assuming it is English, can you help understanding the longer word in the context. It seems like STAY ?RO?? to me.


texts: What is the word for deciding between two equally pleasant alternatives?

texts: A word like Dilemma.I know of deciding between two unpleasant alternatives.


texts: Why does the letter 'y' appear randomly in front of words in Renaissance poetry?

texts:
In a work by Thomas Watson (1555-1592), there is a line as follows: Her dainty forehead from the sun ykept.

Why does y appear in front of kept?

I have seen this odd use of y in other poems in the collection I am reading: Poetry of the English Renaissance, by Hebel and Hudson.


texts: What is the difference between "I ask that you be on time." and "I ask that you are on time."

texts: Does "be on time" focus on the resultant state? My Japanese friend asked me this question today and I really wasn't sure aside from "are" maybe focusing on future tense and "be" focusing on now?


texts:
Are there two verbs in English with the additional details in their meaning included:

to gossip true statements about somebody,
to gossip false statements about somebody?


texts: How to determine the English structural validity of a domain name

texts:
I'm in the process of creating a parser which, using a few dictionaries (English language words, places and acronyms), splits the domain name into a set of potential phrases and attempts to decide which phrase is the most likely to be correct according to the intentions of the person who registered the domain.

My current rules are:

The place name must be at least 4 characters long.
A maximum of 2 place names can occur in a phrase and must be adjacent
Acronyms must be at least 3 characters in length
Priority (in order) is:

least number of words
highest average character length
highest maximum word length

For example, refundslondon extracts to refunds london, refunds lon don and refunds lond on.

It doesn't seem to work too badly at the moment, but from an English-language perspective, it would be nice to know if there was a way to determine (a) the validity of the sentence structure and (b) if certain words appear out of place, particular with respect to words that technically can't really go on the end of a sentence.

Examples:

my probably shouldn't go at the end of a sentence
and probably shouldn't go at the start or end of a sentence

...and so forth.

Any assistance would be appreciated!


texts: Use of "compensate" to mean "help pay cost"

texts:
Is using compensate correct in this context?

  We are appealing for your help. We've found a great deal for a
  software solution we want to teach our kids and it costs 1000 dollars
  and your contributions to compensate this cost will be much
  appreciated.

I don't mean money for a loss. It should mean help us to pay the cost.


texts: Meaning of "about to [do something]" when it refers to somebody's action

texts:
I am about to launch a start-up company.

Would the sentence be understood as I am intending to launch a start-up company, or I am close to launch a start-up company?

In a sentence like the ceremony was about to begin, I would understand that the ceremony was close to begin; is that the most common meaning assigned to sentences like I am about to launch a start-up company?


texts: How do you pronounce numbers written in different bases?

texts:
The decimal (base 10) number "2" can also be represented as the binary (base 2) number "10".

Let's use binary "10" (equivalent to decimal "2") as an example. I could see a few different ways to go here. Assume that the base doesn't need to be specified, and is understood from the context of the conversation (e.g. two programmers talking about memory addresses would understand that they were using hexadecimal).

It could be "ten", since that is what it looks like. One might even argue that ten, as a concept, refers to a one followed by a zero irrespective of the radix. In other words, ten means "a quantity exactly equal to the base it's represented in".

On the other hand, you could argue that "ten" refers specifically to the quantity; in other words, "1010" in binary, "10" in decimal, and "12" in octal would all be pronounced "ten," and "10" in binary should be pronounced "two".

So how would you pronounce the following numbers?

"10" binary ("2" decimal)

"10" octal ("8" decimal)

"10" hexadecimal ("16" decimal)

"1F" hexadecimal ("31" decimal)


texts:
In British private schools children shout "Quis?" and the person to shout "Ego!" in reply first gets whatever was on offer. The Latin derivation is clear but I have two questions.

First, when did this practice start?

Second, there is an extension where the respondent shouts something that sounds similar to "ego de to my liking". This means that the child will accept the gift if they like it. This is to prevent the first child from giving a rotten egg or black eye or similar.  When did this first appear?


texts: Two contradictory definitions for "count with" and a poem by Rudyard Kipling

texts:
The definition for "count with" from the two sources below seems opposite to each other:
macmillandictionary:

to depend on something or someone
We currently count with the support of over 15 state senators.

thefreedictionary:

to be important to someone.
Your cooperation really counts with me.
All my efforts do not count with her.

Are they both actively used (regionally, maybe)?
In particular, which definition should be taken for this line from a poem by Rudyard Kipling?

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;


texts:
What are the differences between "Repetition and Refrain in literature?

and I've looked up some of the examples and sometimes they both hard to recognize which one is Repetition and Refrain.
How do i distinguish it?


texts: Why has "Caucasian" remained in use, while similar terms for other races have fallen out of use?

texts:
Why has the term "Caucasian" remained in use, while equivalent terms, such as those used for Asian people, African people, and Australian Aborigines have fallen out of use in polite society?

I came across this video, but it's about as accurate as you'd expect an (ex) music video station to be about history.

Meaning of "Caucasian" describes what the term "Caucasian" means, but not why it's still used, Why do websites have Caucasian as a race? seems to be more of a complaint than a question, and Is it offensive or unusual to use "Mongolian" in the sense of race? was asking whether using "Mongolian" is appropriate, but doesn't contrast it with "Caucasian" still being used.


texts: Why are expressions like “gonna”, “wanna” and “shoulda” American English?

texts:
As Etymonline suggests, the use of “a” meaning “have” in expressions like “should have” (shoulda), “could have” (coulda) and “would have” (woulda) were almost standard usage until the 17th century:
shoulda:

verbal phrase, 1902, representing casual (American) pronunciation of should have.

The use of a or 'a to represent a loose pronunciation of have as an auxiliary verb is attested from mid-14c. and was all but standard English until 17c. (also preserved in coulda, woulda).

Similar expressions like gonna (going to) and wanna (want to) have a less clear origin.
From BBC.co.uk:

Wanna and gonna are frequently used in speech in informal colloquial English, particularly American English, instead of ‘want to’ and ‘going to’. You will also see them used in writing in quotes of direct speech to show the conversational pronunciation of ‘want to’ and ‘going to’.

Gonna appears to have similar earlier  usages in Scottish dialect (ganna, gaumna) but it is not clear if they are  related to the AmE ones:
wanna:

representing the casual pronunciation of ‘want to’, by 1896.

gonna:

attempt to represent the casual pronunciation of ‘going to’. In Scottish dialect, ganna, gaunna recorded from 1806.

Going to - Casually pronounced form : I'm gonna veg out tonight (1913+) - (Dictionary.com)

According to the above sources, the cited expressions appear to have  rather old origins, but they  emerged, or probably reemerged, around the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th century mainly in American English.
Questions:

Is there evidence that the older original  usage of shoulda, coulda etc. actually influenced by assonance the later expressions like gonna and wanna, or have they unrelated origins?

Is there a plausible reason why this “a” usage emerged  mainly in AmE?


texts: Is there a word meaning "starved to death"?

texts:
I need a single word that is not hunger-deprivation (or any other hyphenated word like that) and will fill in this blank:

"The poor child died of abuse; more specifically, ____"


texts: Which is correct? "the traditional and the modern" or "the traditional and modern"

texts:
I heard this from a film without subtitles. Which is correct?

  The island of Taiwan in East Asia is a melting pot of the traditional and the modern.

or

  The island of Taiwan in East Asia is a melting pot of the traditional and modern.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  The grammaticality of “that don't impress me much”

In the Jennifer Lopez song "My Love Don't Cost a Thing" she says:

  My love don't cost a thing

Shouldn't it be like this?

  My love doesn't cost a thing

Why does she say so?


texts: Is it multilingualism in India or multilinguality in India?

texts:
I know that multilingualism is the ability to speak more than two languages by a person or a group of persons. India is a classic example of multilingualism.

I have seen the word multilinguality.

I have searched on google to know the difference between those two words.

I could not find answer for my doubt.

I herewith attach the links

https://glosbe.com/en/en/multilinguality

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-multilingualism-1691331

Is there a difference between multilingualism and multilinguality?

I would like to know whether we can say multilingualism in India or multilinguality in India.


texts: A sentence structure after the preposition - without

texts:
I have found this humorous text passage on the net :

" Well, to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of ones` views and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one's valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot what I was going to say."

Here is the sentence that troubles me - " without being condemning of ones`" views ". Is this sentence similar in meaning to -" without condemning ones views "? If there is a measurable difference between these two, if so, then what is the difference ?


texts:
I saw this word here today.
A Party Agrift by Paul Krugman

What does "Agrift" here refer to?
I tried on Webster. I could find the meaning for "grift", which means "to acquire money or property illicitly". Still, not clear about "Agrift".


texts: Looking for an analogue to "geography" but for man-made spaces

texts:
Suppose I was walking through a maze-like building complex, I might say,
"The _____ of this place is confounding."

I'm looking for that word. "Geography" doesn't feel right to me since it usually refers to natural spaces. Maybe you can refer to the geography of a city (still sounds a little weird), but of a single building?

I've had two suggestions so far, neither of which I like so much.

"Layout" - this one is close to what I'm talking about, but it's more concrete than I want. When you talk about the layout of a space, you are referring to the relative placement of different elements in that very space. I need something more lofty; something that suggests some kind of conceptual context. I want to draw all of the listener's past experiences in layouts of spaces into her current experience of this one.
"(Urban) design" - this one has that conceptual context, but not in the direction that I want. When you refer to the design of the space you draw the listener's understanding of the humans behind the space into their experience of the space itself. The conceptual context is the intentionality, unintentionality, and interplay of designs within the process of the space's creation. I'm not interested in that process, only the experience of a person in the space, now.

I understand that what I'm looking for is very specific, and it likely does not exist, but maybe it does. Maybe you know this word, or maybe I need to make it up.


texts: Can 'surprisingly' work as a conjunctive adverb? Why or why not?

texts:
Can 'surprisingly' work as a conjunctive adverb to combine two sentences with a semicolon? Why or why not?

The question can be put in another way: what are the criteria of identifying an adverbial conjunctive? Are these conjunctives a fixed list to be memorized or are there some conditions once met we can use some regular adverb as an adverbial conjunctive?

Question has been asked somewhere else but received little help.

Edit:
Here's a contrived example:

  The steak was slightly undercooked; (surprisingly), I found it tasty.

I didn't find 'Surprisingly' on the list of common conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases.

Edit 2:
This page about Conjunctive Adverbs says "There are many conjunctive adverbs – in actual fact, here is a comprehensive list of conjunctive adverbs"


texts: What is the origin of "uh", "um", "erm" and "er"?

texts:
This question may be a better fit on linguistics.SE, but it pertains specifically to English fillers. Also, the question may have a more straightforward answer than what I'm expecting.

TL;DR: Are these fillers mimetic or trace to other languages? Where are they first recorded in English?

First off, although I've always pronounced them differently, the Wiktionary entry for er has the pronunciation for non-rhotic dialects (/ɜ, /ə in ODO), comparing it to uh (/ʌ, /ʌh). Would this be a very similar sound? I'm skeptical as to whether or not this points to a common heritage. Furthermore, the usual sources show er occurred more recently[1][2] than uh or um.[3][4]

I run into confusion when Etymonline states that uh is "attested c.1600" whereas ODO puts its origin in the 1960s. Perhaps it's because ODO is focused on modern usage. All sources I've seen ascribe the words to natural utterances. However, if they are purely mimetic, this doesn't explain why filler sounds differ so widely across languages (i.e. why doesn't every language have these fillers or vice-versa).

Based on the fillers of other languages, one might conclude these English fillers were influenced by the Welsh ym or German äh (/ɛː/) or hm. Or is this a case of false cognates because "m" is easily produced?

Either way, how do we know uh and um go back to the 17th century since I'd hazard a guess that "realistic dialogue" (recorded on the page) is relatively "new" (no earlier than 1800s)?


texts: "Former England footballer husband David" - adjective association

texts:
In an article about the increased unprofitability of Victoria Beckham's fashion business the following appears :

  The company is controlled by Mrs Beckham and her former England footballer husband David.

ITV - 27th November 2019

At first reading, I assumed that I had simply not noticed a celebrity divorce in my  day to day news-reading. Then I wondered if he now played for Scotland. And I finished with a query about what sport David now participates in.

Or . . . .  could he now be called John ?

Is there a term for this ambiguous attachment of an adjective that could well be associated with any of the four nouns that follow ?


texts:
Suppose I have a headline for a subsection of a book or article that goes something like: Everything Collected in One Place.

Is this correct or should it be: Everything Collected in one Place. ?


texts: I used to say cleats but found it uncommon for some people, though I had no trouble with soccer shoes. I have always lived in a Spanish-speaking country (Nicaragua) so I find it hard to know why that is. Are cleats only used in some places? Wikipedia also mentions football boots.


texts:
If someone says “smoking marijuana is not as bad as drinking alcohol” do you interpret this as them implying marijuana is bad? Or do you take it as them defending one thing by comparing it to something bad?

Can you also explain your reason.


texts: Punctuating a question followed by a further comment in a sentence: position of question mark

texts:
I am always confused regarding the accepted placement of the question mark when there is a comment or the like following the actual question in a sentence.
Consider the following options:

  Shall I direct the request to you?, in which case I will proceed with
  sending the email.

or

  Shall I direct the request to you, in which case I will proceed with
  sending the email?

Which one (if either) is correct? Is there a better option?


texts:
Does English really have triphthongs?

EDIT/TDLR: It appears that quite a few people have misunderstood this question. In a nutshell, it is asking why many sources, even scholarly ones, claim that the /aɪə/ sequence is a triphthong despite syllabic evidence to the contrary.

I am trying to discover whether words like pliers as pronounced in the south of England contain actual triphthongs, and the homophonic playas was chosen to illustrate the apparent paradox of what seem like a pair of identical two-syllable words where at least one is claimed to possess a triphthong in English.

To illustrate this, I chose two exact homophones by pairing the word playas with the typical southern English pronunciation of pliers, where a triphthong is alleged to occur. I first verified with native speakers of southern English that they indeed say these two words identically.

Note that by playa, I do not mean eye-dialect for the AAVE slang expression /ˈpleɪə/  (although that too would have worked for triphthong demonstrations). I instead mean the technical term playa used in geology and limnology, pronounced /ˈplaɪə/. Although playa derives from the Spanish word for beach, it does not (usually) mean that in English.  The English word playa used here is a technical one having per the OED a primary sense of:

  A flat silt- or sand-covered area, free of vegetation and usu. salty, that lies at the bottom of a desert basin and after rain becomes a temporary lake.

For example, the annual Burning Man festival famously takes place in a playa of the Black Rock Desert outside Reno, Nevada. The nonsense jingle was provided to make clear both the sense and the pronunciation of playa as discussed in the original post below.

¡Vamos a la playa!

Does the word playa have a triphthong in it, or two diphthongs, or what?

I’m thinking that playas and the RP pronunciation of pliers are homophones. Supposedly pliers has a triphthong in it there in RP. But since playas sounds the same as pliers, it must also have one, too.

That doesn’t seem right to me. If playas had a triphthong, it would have only one syllable, but my instincts tell me it has two. Which means that the RP pronunciation of pliers also needs to have two syllables and no triphthong, despite some sources saying otherwise.

The Question:

What’s going on here: is playas/pliers a one-syllable word with a triphthong, or is it a two-syllable word with something else in each syllable?

If playas/pliers contains a triphthong instead of two different syllables, that would seem to mean that this verse wouldn’t be rhyming trochaic tetrameter anymore then:

  If you think you’d like to try a
          Frolic in the dusty playa,
  Best to bring your own papaya,
          Sacred to the Sioux and Maya.

  Furnace winds are quick to dry a
          Man who can’t himself deny a
  Chug from flasks of Stolichnaya.
          Pack instead some jambalaya.

That doggerel wouldn’t have eight syllables per line anymore if playas and pliers are homophones with a triphthong and only a single syllable in them, since that would mean that you lose a syllable when try and a appear next to each other.

It doesn’t sound like that’s what’s happening to me.  I don’t hear just one syllable there.


texts:
When you have two items, the first item is simply the first item. However, the second item implies there might be more after it, and the last item doesn't tell you out of how many.

Is there a single word that means both last and second, or last of two?

  A is the first item.
  B is the ___ item.

Other is no good, as it is usually paired with one and it also doesn't specify an order. One could be A or B, in which case the other one is B or A.

I'm working with something like an ordered pair, but it's not obvious that it's a pair of items. It's to do with words regardless of the language, and in Semitic languages, the left word is the second word and the right word is the first word, whereas in English the order is the reverse of that.


texts: 'As' always to describe something happening at the same time?

texts:
I heard the conjunction 'As' even when used to describe the reason for something implies it is happening at the same time. So, I'm wondering if the following sentence is a little strange to hear for the same reason.

As your dad studied hard back in high school, he has the right to tell you to do the same. (X / O) ?

If I replaced 'As' with 'Because' at the begining of the sentence, would it be correct grammatically?


texts:
I need the native perspective regarding the usage of 'called for' vs 'necessary' in the following example:
A) I can understand why you did it, and even forgive it, assuming forgiveness is called for.
B) I can understand why you did it, and even forgive it, assuming forgiveness is necessary.

I know the meaning is very close, but I would like to hear opinions as to the nuances, the usage in American English everyday speech, especially in terms of age, formality, and level of education.
Thanks.


texts:
everyone!
if a say statements like these: she tall, he a teacher, they at school - what will a native speaker undertand?
Will 'the time of being' be clear for a native English speaker from these statements?
or will you get just a general idea of what is meant by these statements?
I know the correct forms, what I really would like to know is what a native speaker will hear and understand if I say so.


texts: How do you capitalize and hyphenate "at a glance" in a title?

texts:
I'd like to use the following as a section title:  Module At-a-Glance

Is it capitalized and punctuated properly?


texts: Tense change: previous actions on something that's currently true

texts:
I'm describing a situation that happened in the past. To explain it, I want to use a description that is both true now and true when the situation happened.

Specifically, I want something like:

  She touched me where my neck met my collarbone.

Since my neck is still attached to my collarbone (thankfully), I'm wondering if I shouldn't use the present tense here instead:

  She touched me where my neck meets my collarbone.

Which is preferable, and why?


texts:
The word contemporary can mean two mutually exclusive things.

 1.living or occurring at the same time.
 2.belonging to or occurring in the present.

As a result, if I read the sentence

Bob and contemporary painters...

I could interpret it as "Bob, and painters living in the present" or as "Bob, and painters living in the same time".

How can I phrase the sentence so that possible confusion is avoided while still making use of the word "contemporary"?


texts: How to punctuate "A and B and C" properly if "B and C" form a set

texts:
Given that "A" is one set and "B" and "C" are another set, how should the following phrase be punctuated correctly?

  A and B and C


texts: A word that describe excitability due to youth

texts:
I am looking for a word that describe, with some specificity, the tendency for a person to be easily excited and interested by something due to the lack of age or experience.

Sentence:

  Weapons are one of the favourite subjects of ____ boys.


texts: What is the English word meaning "of low possibility"?

texts:
For example:

— Do you think you can come?
— Yeah, unless (word here) I have a visitor.

"not very likely" seems like a solution, but is there any other shorter word/phrase to use?
EDIT:
For those who want some more answers to this question, please refer to this link on ELL.


texts: Tense Inconsistency (Past Simple and Present Perfect) or wrong Sequence of Tenses (Present tense follows Past tense)?

texts:
In the following sentence, the Present Perfect in the second clause sounds a little off to me, yet I cannot put my finger on WHY that is.

During this time (Subord. Clause 1), I was able to gain/ I gained many new experiences (Independent Clause 1), and although I enjoyed it (Subord. Clause 2), my lifetime dream has always been to become a teacher (Independent Clause 2).

-> the reason the Present Perfect was used here, is because it is still true in the present. It has been and it still is now the person's dream to become a teacher.
It is clearly a sentence which contains two independent clauses and two subordinate clauses
(Please, correct me if I'm wrong!)
My two solutions to solve this problem would be:

MAKING TWO SEPARATE SENTENCES

During this time, I was able to gain/ I gained many new experiences which I really enjoyed. However, my lifetime dream has always been to become a teacher, which is why I’ve decided to start my current studies in…

OR

CHANGING THE VERB TENSE in the second subordinate clause to PRESENT PERFECT (to not interrupt the logical sequence of the tenses)

During this time, I was able to gain/ I gained many new experiences, and although I’ve enjoyed it (referring to this time), my lifetime dream has always been to become a teacher.

My question is - WHAT IS THE EXPLANATION as to why the original sentence isn't correct? How do I explain this to my student?
Is it TENSE INCONSISTENCY? Do we have to keep the same tense throughout a clause which is why it's better to rather have two separate sentences instead?
Or is it a problem with the logical SEQUENCE OF THE TENSES, which is why the Present Perfect should be followed by the Present Perfect ?
Thank you in advance! :-)


texts:
I wonder if it's correct to say:
"Graphs are a special data structure."
Here, "graphs" are plural, but "a special data structure" is singular. I remember I have seen this type of sentence before, but I cannot give a reference.


texts:
Could you please tell me which usage is correct ?

'I need money to start a business'

'I need money for starting a business'

Actually the first one sounds more natural to me and also I know for is used for stating purpose of something(or what it is used for) but can we think like money will be used for starting a business (we meant what it will be used for) ?


texts:
I'm looking for a term, preferably one or two words, that refers to the union of visual art + words/language.   Probably a noun. Something that might describe an instance where art and language come together in a positive way.

If there's not a word that means that exactly, then maybe an art technique that evokes that same idea, or an action/verb.

I'm writing something that has rhetoric/word metaphors around one character and art metaphors around another character, so I'm looking for a word/term/technique/idea that describes a union of the two.  I'm grateful for the help!


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “At” vs. “in” before verb

"He is good in painting" or "He is good at painting" — which one is correct?


texts: "three, hour-long sessions" vs. "three hour-long sessions"

texts:
Is the following sentence ok?

  The interview is broken up into three, hour-long sessions.

My instinct is that it should be written without the comma, but I am unsure whether this is just a preference.


texts: And so on and so forth - do I have to say the last part?

texts: Will it sound weird/sloppy if I just say "...and so on.", instead of "...and so on and so forth."?


texts:
I'm going insane trying to identify this accent that appears in The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's supposed to be bumpkin accent, but I don't have much more information about location. Could someone give me a hand?

He came up to where we stood, his weathered face grim as he squinted at us. “Wat are the tae o’ yeh daen oot here?” he said suspiciously. “Oi taut Oi heard sengen.”
“At twere meh coosin,” I said, making a nod toward Denna. “Shae dae have a loovlie voice far scirlin, dain’t shae?” I held out my hand. “Oi’m greet glad tae meet ye, sar. Y’clep me Kowthe.”
He looked taken aback when he heard me speak, and a good portion of the grim suspicion faded from his expression. “Pleased Oi’m certain, Marster Kowthe,” he said, shaking my hand. “Et’s a rare troit tae meet a fella who speks propper. Grummers round these ports sound loik tae’ve got a mouth fulla wool.”


texts: What is the difference between "rope" and "cable"?

texts:
After looking up examples and doing some research in dictionaries, the difference doesn't seem to be the material, function or thickness.

In particular I am interested in the usage of the word cable for cable driven robots. They exist in various sizes and materials. Typically the "cables"/"ropes" are made of metal or synthetic fibres. Could the "cables" be called "ropes" in this case?


texts: Should I use hyphenation on compounds consisting of three nouns?

texts:
In our software, we extract/detect information from/on images, e.g., face features and hand gestures.
When referring to these processes, should it be...?

"face feature extraction" and "hand gesture detection"
or
"face-feature extraction" and "hand-gesture detection"


texts: What does "not quite a Haiku" mean? Is it a popular English idiom?

texts:
I found the article written by Mark Halperin under the title not quite a Haiku in July 13 Time magazine followed by the lines:

  From a White House pool report about the President’s stop in Virginia
  Beach: He worked the rope line. Lots of teenagers. There was more
  screaming.

As I was quite unfamiliar with the phrase, I tried to find out its meaning on Google. I wasn’t able to find any definition as I used to find in Google Search, but found a couple of examples of the text headed with the caption, not quite a Haiku:

  Not quite a haiku: They would never suspect they always have it coming And I'm famous but someone has to do it Clean this world of the
  rot. ‒ amcon. net
  Not quite Friday anymore, and not quite a haiku. A little while ago, I was looking for sentences for my RTK2 deck, and while attempting to find something for the character I stumbled across something that is, I suppose, near ... ‒ andorien.wordpress.com

From these examples, and in association with Haiku, which is the shortest form of poem in the world as I understand and easy for everyone to try and work up, I assume not quite a Haiku means "It’s not a so easy work (as you work up a Haiku)" or "It’s not a so easy-going day (as you're indulging in Haiku)" but I’m not sure.

What does not quite a haiku mean? Is it popular English phrase? Since when did it come into use?

We have鼻歌 (hanauta) in Japanese literally meaning “sing a song with nose,” which means doing one’s work humming a tune (nonchalantly). Does 'not quite a haiku' imply the same thing?


texts: 'Czech'/'Swiss' to refer to the country?

texts:
An increasing number of my friends in India and the United Kingdom use 'Czech' to refer to the Czech Republic (and a smaller number do the same with saying 'Swiss' for Switzerland). When politely pointed out to that 'Czechia' is an official short form with official backing, some of them point out that 'Czech' enjoys wider popularity than 'Czechia' in their circles, and also this beer label.

While the full names of the countries are, admittedly, tedious to pronounce every time, I do not believe that a contraction of the country name to what is effectively an adjective is grammatically well-founded. My questions to you all would be:

1) Do you observe similar trends in your surroundings?

2) Is there a grammatical basis to it that I am missing?


texts: What is it called when words are deliberately spelled incorrectly but pronunciation is kept unchanged?

texts:
For example,

  Night -> Nite
  Through -> Thru
  The -> Da
  Though -> Tho

Nite even appears in some dictionaries as having the same meaning as night.

What is it called when words are deliberately written incorrectly but the pronunciation and meaning are kept unchanged?


texts: Article before nouns in the appositive phrase?

texts:
Here are two examples:

Nobody creates post-apocalyptic flicks better than George Miller, the director of the Mad Max series.

Is the necessary before director, and can it be omitted?

The business was doing great, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, confirmed the rumors.

Can we omit an article before CEO or there needs to be placed the?


texts: What do you call a person who always wants to make sure about things?

texts: A person who stops themselves to do something because they're not sure yet, so they wait for patterns or for it to recur. Basically what do you call a person who wants to make sure about things before doing anything?


texts: Is there a known reason that English has so many short words?

texts:
Anyone who has played scrabble-like games in English and other languages cannot help but notice that English has an extremely high number of two and three-letter words.

Is there a known historic-linguistic reason that English has so many short words?


texts: Is there a word for the parallel world of dictators?

texts:
Is there a word for the "parallel world" of dictators?

Most dictators were surrounded by people who don't dare to tell the truth.

The result: the dictators didn't see the world like it is, but only how they wanted it to see. They didn't know how the average people felt.

Is there a word for this "parallel world" of dictators?


texts: A particular use of the expression "turn down"

texts:
I have just come upon the following sentence in a book:

"A page was turned down, as if to draw attention to some passage".
(The specific context is very simple: the character has taken a book and started reading it.)

As a non-native speaker, I am quite intrigued by the use of the expression "turn down" in this case. None of the Lexico definitions fits. Does it mean the page was "marked" by the reader somehow? Is it common to use "turn down" this way?


texts: Is "Geeky" or "Pop culture" the right word?

texts:
Let's say I'm creating a website where I will post trivia of video-games, famous book from the 21st century and popular tv-shows.

I need a domain name and I'm wondering if there's an English word I can use to describe my site. If I were to post a bunch of stuff about Pokemon, Twilight, Mass Effect, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, can I use "geeky" or "pop culture" to describe that or are there better words?

Edit: I just thought of "Fiction", would "Fiction" suit my above examples too? Like "Fictiontrivia"


texts:
Occasionally, I will hear or read coworkers using "myself" in place of "me," as in:

If you have any questions, you can contact Gimli or myself.
I have sent the list to Legolas, Glorfindel, Aragorn, and myself.

This sticks out to me every time I hear it, and seems like an attempt to sound more professional than if they were to say "Gimli or me".
It seems wrong because you would not say "You can contact myself."
I also wonder if "myself" is an attempt to avoid the confusion of "me" versus "I" in a sentence.

Is this a valid use of "myself"?
Has anyone else experienced this, or is it a Midwestern regional idiom?


texts: It's not affect, but can you "effect" something?

texts: I understand the differences between affect and effect, and generally when to use them. However, in some cases while reading I have seen authors use the phrase "effect a change" (among others) meaning, I think, to cause a change, or to bring about a change. Using "affect a change" seems wrong/awkward; so is this acceptable use?


texts: Why is the comma inside quotation marks when people are quoted?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When should end punctuation go inside quotes?

From a AMS blog post:

  Some organizations have temporarily suspended their polling, and with the news media tabbing Sandy as the new “it girl,” the presidential candidates were sent to the fourth estate’s back burner, at least for a few days, as notedby media reporter Howard Kurtz

Why is the comma inside the quotation marks in “it girl,”? This occurs not only in this example, but is a general rule, not even limited to English. But I find it strange: the comma clearly not part of the name; nor is it part of the quotation in e.g. “wait a second,” said my friend as opposed to “wait a second”, said my friend.

What is the grammatical word for the comma being placed inside the quotation marks, and why is it like this?


texts: One topic per paragraph when discussing advantages and disadvantages

texts:
I'm in the process of discussing advantages and disadvantages in a science paper I'm writing. I'm not sure if it's best to include them in two separate body paragraphs, one for advantages and one for disadvantages with their own topic sentences.

Or would it be better to create body paragraphs for each singular advantage/disadvantage?


texts: How to avoid ordinal numbers when referring to a place in a queue?

texts:
I have the following sentence:

  "You are currently 5th in the queue"

I'd like to avoid using ordinal numbers. What is the best way to rephrase this sentence such that it conveys the same meaning, but doesn't use ordinal numbers?


texts: Is there a word or concise phrase meaning to set aside many tasks or a surplus of work for another?

texts:
For a very long time I had a misunderstanding and thought the word expressing this was "sandbagging" which is very much an incorrect use.
Is there a phrase I can use when I am saying that I am stacking up things to do for one of my juniors at work, so that they will have plenty to do and not run out of work? The idea is to have a plentiful amount of work available and set up. think: "task-stockpiling" I have searched quite a bit to no avail. It's one of those things where I swear there was a word for this and it's escaping me.
Thanks in advance :)


texts: What does the verb "to monograph" mean in documents context?

texts:
I'd be very grateful to you if you can help me to understand one sentence, that I have in
business communication by email.
Situation: I am discussing the process of remote registration of a contract with a lawyer from company. The lawyer asked me to do two things:

sign some pages
monograph other pages

So, there is no problem with signing, but what «to monograph» verb means in context of documents/agreements?


texts: Can I use the word "promise" with gerund?

texts:
Is it possible to use gerund after the verb "promise"? For example, in the sentence "He promised cleaning the window. I'd prefer to say: He promised to clean the window. But today I was told that this verb can also be followed by gerund in the meaning of "suggest". It sounds strange to me.

Could you clarify this point?

Thank you.


texts: Idiom for a creature we sacrifice because it/s/he is the weakest

texts:
I am looking for an idiom for a creature/person we choose to sacrifice in a tough situation. We choose that creature/person because we have to choose one, and that creature will cause the least trouble for us (defenseless maybe). The others might cause noise, hassle, ... etc.

In an example, let us say you are an employer, you want to lay off one employee. You choose the one who will cause less disruption. What can I call that employee?
Scapegoat came to my mind. But, to me, scapegoat is a person who is blamed for other's mistake. Here, I am referring to no mistakes. It is just harsh circumstances, and you decide to sacrifice that person. I can only relate to evolution theory when a mother kills the weakest baby to survive a harsh winter, knowing the food will be scarce.


texts: late on Monday night/ on late Monday night?

texts:
I just read a sentence from a news article and was a bit confused with it.

It was

  "The incident happened late on Monday night." (S1)

I usually see people write in this way

  "The incident happened on late Monday night." (S2)

What is the purpose of writing in S1 format and are there any differences between S1 and S2?


texts: What part of speech is 'enough' in '[Subject] is enough.'?

texts:
All the dictionaries I know of classify 'enough' in 'Something is enough.' as a pronoun, not an adjective.

Dictionaries such as LEXICO, Oxford Learner's Dictionaries and Collins classify it as a pronoun. Even this M-W Learner's Dictionary, which does have an adjective category for 'enough' (instead of a determiner category), classifies 'enough' in 'That's enough, young lady!' as a pronoun.

All these dictionaries follow traditional grammar in their POS categorization. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by Pullum isn't clear about this issue, but I think it'd classify 'enough' in 'Something is enough.' as a determinative in the fused determiner-head construction, as it would classify most other "pronouns" in traditional grammar.

What's the reason for classifying this 'enough' as a pronoun in traditional grammar and as a fused determiner-head in CGEL, instead of classifying it as a good old adjective?

EDIT

According to @TinfoilHat, OED seems to be classifying this 'enough' as an adjective. If this is the case, why does OED depart from all the other dictionaries and CGEL?


texts: What is the difference between “I earn $500 each month” and “I earn $500 per month”?

texts:
What is the difference between these two sentences?

  I earn $500 each month
  I earn $500 per month


texts: What's the word for "swiftly lifting upper body upwards"?

texts:
The closest definition I got was from here

However, there it implies more like 'swiftly stand up from bed and go do stuff'. In my context, I'm looking more for "being in laying position, then suddenly lift upper body, while remaining in bed, changing themselves to sitting position"

Is example from above applicable for my case? Or is there another word/phrase for it?


texts:
*The first artifacts were just wooden poles which have long gone, but these were raised by men in times so ancient*

I can't understand what "long gone" means here.


texts: Collective noun for lightning(s) / thunderbolts

texts:
What is the collective noun for lightning(s) / thunderbolts?

  A ________ of thunderbolts/lightning(s)

Can we use the plural form of lightning with a collective noun? Or should it stay in singular form?

For example:

  The valleys of Grand Canyon were being struck by a ________ of lightnings and rumbling like a giant open-air opera house with the following thunders.

(Note: This would be a literary sentence than an everyday speech)

Note: A single lightning event is mentioned as a flash and if it hits the ground or an object, it is mentioned as a strike.

Note 2: Lightning is generally a mass noun but it can be used as a count noun also, especially in literary sense. OED has a definition for the literary sense as a count noun:

  [count noun] literary a flash or discharge of lightning: the sky was a mass of black cloud out of which lightnings were flashed.

You can find literary usages in Google Books as well. Plural form was more common in 1800s and the usage has dropped dramatically but there are still some contemporary usages.

Lightning is used in plural form in technical contexts also. Below are the examples from a technical book called "Lightning Physics and Lightning Protection" (by By Eduard M. Bazelyan, Yuri P. Raizer) also.

  The statistics of flight accidents show that aircraft of identical size may differ considerably  in the capacity to excite lightnings.

  The lightnings people observe most frequently are descending discharges, which originate among storm clouds and strike the earth or objects located on its surface.

Thunderbolt is a count noun.

Note 3: Below is a similar question asked before:
Collective Noun for Fire

The difference between fire and lightning in the context of countability is that fire is also both countable and uncountable but both senses have a common usage.


texts: Is this an acceptable way of writing the count of items in a sentence?

texts:
My father served in the logistics branch of Indian armed forces and he had a very particular style of representing the number of items of a certain object. For example, he would use this sentence:

Confirming the receipt of footballs (20 nos) and volleyballs (10 nos).
OR
Confirming the receipt of footballs (20 numbers) and volleyballs (10 numbers).

Of course I can also say, "Confirming the receipt of 20 footballs and 10 volleyballs", but it changes the emphasis that the sentence puts on the numbers.

I haven't seen this format used outside his military communication, though if I use it, people seem to understand it fine. Is there an internationally accepted way of writing numbers like this?


texts: Determiners of Quantity and Count Nouns: What is wrong with saying, "Joan drank hardly any sodas"?

texts: My GMAT book (GMAT Ultimate Grammar) says it is incorrect in an exercise where we fill in the blank of a sentence based on choices of possible determiners of quantity. It says you cannot use hardly any to complete Joan drank ____ sodas. However, at Walden University's website it says hardly any can work with plural count nouns and non-count nouns.


texts: All leading meaning in Hotel Transylvania

texts:
I am learning English, and I try to see movies for listening and vocabulary.

I have started to see Hotel Transylvania movie and I could not understand a dialog:

  All leading to my daughter's birthday extravaganza tommorrow

I knew all of words but I could not understand the sentence meaning completely.


texts: Can I omit "which"+verb in a non-defining relative clause?

texts:
Which sentence below sounds better? Is there an incorrect/correct one? Is there a difference in meaning?
I tend to like the second one the most. To me, it has the same meaning as the first one but bit fancier, idk :P

The NIR had just been discovered: a type of radiation undetectable by the human eye.
The NIR had just been discovered, a type of radiation undetectable by the human eye.
The NIR had just been discovered, which is a type of radiation undetectable by the human eye.


texts: I'm trying to think of the best way to casually say 'conference attendees'. Any ideas?


texts:
I'm confused when to use the words 'take' and 'drink'.

For example,

When we want someone to drink their medicine, we tell them to 'take' the medicine. On the other hand, when we want someone to drink some juice, we say 'drink' the juice, etc.. In both the cases we are telling them to drink something.

Also, is it right to say: "I take a cup of coffee everyday at noon", or would we say "I drink a cup of coffee everyday at noon" ? Which is a better version? What should I keep in mind when deciding to use 'take' or 'drink' ?

Or are they both correct depending on the context in which they are used ? Or does this not make any difference ?

Thanks for your help in advance.

PS Not sure which tag to use so feel free to edit the tag.


texts: SAT question, what choice could fit into this context?

texts: For question 37, the answer is C, but I chose B. I just don't know how B is wrong. The rest of the paragraph indeed is talking about the display of clothes with technology way, which is quite creative.


texts: What is a common expression for being blithely innocent, or actually ignorant of in fact an event is occurring?

texts: In a conversation I struggled to identify a common expression that a person was actually oblivious to his surroundings or an event.


texts:
Is the form 'accidently' a correct adverb alternative to 'accidentally'?

My kid got this as a spelling exercise and I never encountered the "short" form before. Is this a British thing?


texts:
I am familiar with the idea of a rhetorical question, but are there any criteria to mark or identify one? Can a rhetorical question be recognized alone or does it need surrounding context?

It doesn't seem like there is a single syntactic method to distinguish them (the wiki article mentions a 'rhetorical question mark' that really didn't catch on, but that's not really syntax, just punctuation in writing).

If there are no syntactic markers, what semantic criteria are there that could say that a sentence is a rhetorical question?


texts: In the sentence: " count" ("count of ") should  be plural or singular?

texts: For instance, should I say: 1) "The book count is overwhelming" or 2) "(The?) Books count is overwhelming"? I am specifically interested in the version without "of" (as in brackets in the question).


texts:
Is it common to convert a phrasal verb into a noun, especially a phrasal verb having more than 2 words?

I found phrases like "do some figuring out" or "have some figuring out to do" in these days. Are they common phrases for native speakers to use?

The original sentence is from the book "Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower".

I can find the content on this website:

"Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower"

Among the article content,

"We do have some figuring out to do," Amelia Bedelia said. "I thought those ladies were supposed to be giving this shower. And here we are giving it."
"If we had known," said Alcolu, "we could have fixed up something fancy."

I don't understand the grammar and the meaning of this sentence "We do have some figuring out to do." Would you please help explain it?

Is "figuring out" here used as a noun? And is it common to convert a phrasal verb into a noun, especially a phrasal verb having more than 2 words? Any examples?


texts: Word to describe two processes which function at opposing times

texts:
I'm drafting up a workflow report that I need to present in a meeting tomorrow and I'm reaching for a word, it's on the tip of my tongue but it's alluding me.

I'm writing about two processes which run over the course of two weeks and repeat, over and over again.  The first process starts, and the second starts one week into the first and ends one week into the next.  So the two processes run parallel but always one week apart.

A crude example:

Process 1: a a a a b b b b c c c c d d d d

Process 2: .....  1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4

notice 1 starts after a is half thru and ends in the middle of b..  this is the sequence of operation


texts: What is the English equivalent of the Arabic expression "she melts the iron"?

texts:
If I want to express that
I was angry with my friend, and then she threw a party for my birthday, which is unexpected.
So what she did makes me not angry any more  ....

What idiom or expression can express my feelings appropriately?
In Arabic language I can say: she melts the iron (or she melted the iron).
Does this phrase make sense in the English language?
Is there something equivalent?
Something that would fit:

  She made me angry, but then she did something nice for me; she ________.

I’ve thought of "She brokes down my defenses."
Is it right?


texts:
The word activist means "a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.".

I'm looking for a similar word but one that is less intense. By that mean, a word that refers to someone that is not really an activist, as the word commonly refers to, but nevertheless consistently exhibits political expressions that indicates their subtle desire (if not active acts of activism) to effect social change.

This could be a person on Twitter tweeting about whatever ideology without (necessarily) being directly involved in any organization acts.

There is "SJW" (social justice warrior), but the word I'm looking for is not tied to any particular ideology. It could refer anyone from a keyboard warrior SJW to an anti-feminist person; anyone invested in some sort of 'social change' at all, not matter how 'right' and 'sensible' they are.

Example sentence:

Unlike you, John does not pay lip service to the social protocols. He is a ____, who must constantly express his opinions over how society ought to be. You are a realist, and go along with social protocols; he on the other hand has taken a stance and desires a need to change those protocols.


texts: Can we use he or she twice in a sentence

texts: Eg : He said that he will perform the steps which I asked him to do.


texts: What idioms could describe "repeating a task unnecessarily"?

texts:
Is there a idiomatic phrase that would describe unnecessarily repeating work that has already been done/tried?

Eg., Bob tries to fix a problem, Joe arrives, and tries to fix the problem the exact same way, not knowing that method hadn't worked or had already been tried.

The only idiom close to this meaning that I could think of is "we've already been down that road".


texts: Why is the word "triple" spelt with 1 p although tri is an open syllable?

texts:
nipple has a double p.
tripod and triangle are pronounced tr/I/


texts:
I often hear native English speakers pronouncing "multi-" as ['mʌltaɪ] (mul-tie), however all the dictionaries are saying that the only way to pronounce it is ['mʌltɪ] (mul-ty). Example words: multitasking, multimedia.

What is the right or more often used pronunciation? Does it differ in British/American English? Does it depend on context?


texts: I know that abolish may be used for  practices (ex. to abolish slavery), and with institutions (ex. to abolish The Department of Education). What is the correct way to speak about abolishing a position? Suppose for example that the Parliament decides to put an end to the position of Secretary of State, absorbing its duties in that of the President.


texts:
I was at work today and I said "I think I'm leaving" (looking at the weather because it had stopped raining) and my coworker said I should say "I'm thinking about leaving" instead.

Did I say it wrong?


texts: Difficulty understanding sentence in The Economist

texts:
I was reading an article in the latest issue of The Economist and was stumped by the opening of the last paragraph:

That leaves two reasons for passports at home. One is to enforce vaccination when infected people could harm those who have had their jabs in hospitals and care homes, for example—rather as some countries already require proof that those working with vulnerable people have no criminal record. ...

First, the ambiguous prepositional phrase "in hospitals and care homes": is it modifying "enforce", "harm", or "have had"? Backtracking the garden path led me to conclude that "enforce"/"harm" were the most reasonable.
The sentence could then be rewritten (although not as succinctly) as:

One reason is to enforce vaccination during times when, in hospitals and care homes, infected people could harm those who have had their jabs.

However, it didn't make sense to me, because how could "infected people harm those who have had their jabs" (scientific arguments about how the immunity could last for only a few months aside)? And what about those "in hospitals and care homes" who didn't get a jab? The analogy of "vulnerable people" doesn't help either.
I enjoy reading the The Economist, but sometimes sentences like these leave me frustrated. How should one interpret this?


texts:
Toward the close of her life she was greatly troubled at any unusual
stir in the household. She liked to have company, but nothing
disturbed her more than to have a man working in the cellar, putting
in coal, cutting wood, or doing such work. She used then to follow us
uneasily about and look earnestly up into our faces, as if to say:—
"Girls, this is not right. Everything is all upset here and 'a' the
world's gang agley.' Why don't you fix it?"
— Concerning Cats by Helen M Winslow 1900

I feel like "a' the world's gang agley" is a kind of dialect. Can I change it into "all the world is gang agley"?


texts: "Gain in popularity" vs "Gain popularity"?

texts:
I've got the following sentence:

  These issues have allowed for alternatives, such as Spotify and Pandora, to gain in popularity.

A friend expressed concern and believes that it would be more correct to say:

  These issues have allowed for alternatives, such as Spotify and Pandora, to gain popularity.

Is there a de-facto correct usage here?


texts:
I'm not a native speaker, I think this is why I'm a bit confused about the usage of whether in the sentence below:

  Whether
  a reference refers to a const or nonconst type affects what we can do with that reference,
  not whether we can alter the binding of the reference itself.

What does whether..., not whether mean in this sentence?


texts: Is the expression, “The Hillary Clinton Republican Primary” self-explanatory and clear-cut without reading the text?

texts:
December 6 Time magazine carries the following clip of Mark Halperin’s remark in MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe” under the Lede, “The Hillary Clinton Republican Primary.”

  “You talk to Republicans about ’16, and obviously people are already
  talking about it. For a lot of Republicans, now, what people are
  auditioning for is can you beat Hillary Clinton? If you don’t have the
  premise of beating her, the stature to beat her, the fundraising to
  beat her, Republicans say, “No need to apply,” because that is, right
  now, the prism they’re looking at.”

To me as a foreign reader, the title looks like as if Republicans are led by Hillary Clinton at the first sight, though it's utterly impossible. If Japan Times puts, "The Koizumi (one of the most popular former prime ministers) Democratic Party (the opposition party) leader election," we'll be confused.

Is this a reasonable way of summation which is too obvious to native English speakers?


texts: What online resource can I use to find sentences that use a word in a specific part of speech?

texts: I recall there is an online service that lets you search for a word (like "sky") and shows you sentences that use that word but you can filter by part of speech (the noun "sky" vs. the verb "to sky"). Any suggestions?


texts: Hard on the outside but soft on the inside (personality attribute)?

texts:
What is a single word (or idiom, or metaphor) that can be used to describe a person's personality that is "hard" or "tough" on the outside, but sensitive and soft on the inside?

Something that says: "He might be hard to get along with at first, but once you get to know him more, you'll find he's really a kind and sensitive/empatic person."


texts: What's the female equivalent of "suitor"?

texts:
I'm looking for a word which could satisfy the usage of "suitor", except it would be used to indicate female "suitors":

E.g.:

  She had a host of suitors eagerly awaiting her favour...

Now, I want a word that could fit in this sentence, except it would be about females:

  He had a bevy of ?????? eagerly awaiting his favour...


texts: ECONOMICS: These expected payoffs are gross of the ticket price. What does GROSS means here?

texts:
These expected payoffs are gross of the ticket price.

I am unsure about the meaning of the word gross here.

Does it mean the expected payoffs are including the ticket price or are they excluding the ticket price?


texts:
I was thinking of bounds for functions yesterday and it occurred to me that a bound from above is an "upper bound" (not "higher"), whereas a bound from below is a "lower bound".

Is there any etymological reason why we say "upper bound" but not "downer bound", or "lower bound" but not "higher bound"?


texts: Ways of saying 'fell into routine' which gives a frustrated tone

texts:
I've come up with 'slumped in routine', but I'm not sure if it makes sense.

  Their marriage became so _______________ [slumped in routine].

FYI: English is not my first language.


texts: Cannot understand sentence in preface to "Old Indian Legends" by Zitkala-Ša

texts:
I'm reading the preface to Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Ša, originally published in 1901. My mother tongue is not English, and I am having some trouble understanding - in detail - what she actually means or refers to in the final sentence of the quoted text below. I include the whole paragraph for context:

  The old legends of America belong quite as much to the blue-eyed little patriot as to the black-haired aborigine. And when they are grown tall like the wise grown-ups may they not lack interest in a further study of Indian folklore, a study, which so strongly suggests our near kinship with the rest of humanity and points a steady finger toward the great brotherhood of mankind, and by which one is so forcibly impressed with the possible earnestness of life as seen through the teepee door!


texts: Better way to indicate “a large amount of ”

texts:
A Wikipedia article tells us that:

  A problem is regarded as inherently difficult if solving the problem requires a large amount of resources, whatever the algorithm used for solving it.

What is a more elegant, and perhaps more correct, way of expressing the notion “a large amount of ” in a context like this?

EDIT after comments: Maybe what bothers me is the the large amount followed by plural resources. I like a large amount of butter on my morning toast; and I like having a lot of books around; but I’m not so sure I’d say I like having a large amount of books here.

FINALLY I changed the sentence to read

  A problem is regarded as inherently
  difficult if its solution
  requires significant resources,
  whatever the algorithm used.


texts: is it correct to say "this happens in 2014 Norway"?

texts: Is it correct to say "this happens in 2014 Norway"? or how to say it correctly? Thanks


texts: What do you call a person who makes easy things difficult?

texts: What you you call a person that can take a simple, easily understood concept or task and turn it in to a complicated procedure?


texts: What is the meaning of "wearing one's learning lightly"?

texts:
We are even farther removed from the unfocused newspaper reviews
  published in England between the turn of the 20th century and the eve
  of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylish
  arts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which
  it appeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the
  critics of major papers would write in detail and at length about the
  events they covered.Theirs was a serious business, and even those
  reviewers who wore their learning lightly, like George Benard Shaw and
  Ernest Newman, could be trusted to know what they were about. These
  men believed in journalism as a calling, and were proud to be
  published in the daily press. "So few anthors have brains enough or
  literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,' Newman
  wrote, 'that I am tempted to define 'journalism' as 'a term of
  contempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are'.

1.What is the sentence "wore their learning lightly" supposed to mean?

2.What does the boldfaced word "they" refer to?

3.What does the sentence "could be trusted to know what they were about" mean?

What does the author intend to convey here in this sentence?


texts:
I was told I misused the word respective in the sentence 'If bilingual, please list the respective languages.'

My understanding is that the word points to the prior mentioned subjects. Here's a definition:

  respective  adjective [ attrib. ] belonging or relating separately to each of two or more people or things : they chatted about their respective childhoods.

So I struggle to see how I used the word incorrectly when the question asked to have the listing of the languages spoken by those who are bilingual. Please explain how I misused it and how I can use it correctly.


texts: Why do so many speakers and writers refer to the 'left-hand side' or 'right-hand turn'?  What function does the addition of'hand' provide to the direction?


texts: Word for participating in solving a puzzle?

texts: Is there a word or short phrase for collaboratively solving a puzzle, or to describe the individual's role in that collaboration? Looking for something specific to solving something, ideally puzzles, rather than something broad like teamwork. Thanks!


texts: “Puff words”: What is a good definition or explanation for this term by David Foster Wallace?

texts:
The late David Foster Wallace at least once used the term “puff words” to describe, I assume, the type of words in the list below that are not in parentheses. What exactly did Wallace mean by “puff words”?

Puff word (non-puff word)

utilize (use)

commence (start)

prior to (before)

therefore (so)

however (but)


texts: Correct comma usage in a list with groups

texts:
I am writing a list of features, and am stuck on how to correctly handle the comma usage.

There are, essentially, "groups" within the list that are throwing me off.

I'm going to be a bit long-winded with my examples and explanation because I don't really know how to explain this problem concisely, but if you want to skip to the problem, it's the last example near the bottom!

Let's consider this test case... the items in the list are:

Banana sales
Orange sales
Watermelon sales

In this case I might write something like "We offer banana sales, orange sales, and watermelon sales"

Now let's consider this list:

Banana sales
Banana insurance

In this case, because the items are somewhat grouped by both relating to bananas, I would write it like "We offer banana sales, and insurance"

Now to get to my problem, I want to essentially combine those two ideas for this list:

Banana sales
Banana insurance
Orange sales
Watermelon sales

So my first thought was to write something like "We offer banana sales, and insurance, orange sales, and watermelon sales" or "We offer banana sales and insurance, orange sales, and watermelon sales"

But that does not seem like it would be correct. What's the solution?


texts:
I teach English in South Korea.
One text book says that only the following sentence is grammatically right: "Highly skilled athletes feel passionate about their successful involvement in sport"
But the next sentence is grammatically wrong: "Highly skilled athletes feel passionately about their successful involvement in sport"
I am bothered by the curiosity.. Could you explain why the latter sentence is wrong?
Here is the context.
Values are defined a a person's beliefs about what they consider important in life.
For example, an athlete who values commitment, responsibility and health will tend to develop daily rituals and long-term habits that promote their high-quality sports performance and good health.
Highly skilled athletes -and their coaches- feel passionate about their successful involvement in sport.


texts: Are these both right? "Shout her name out loud!" and "Shout out loud her name!"

texts:
Are both expressions acceptable?
Or is the latter(the second one) grammatically wrong or really awkward?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Should I say “Your order is now complete” or “Your order is now completed”?

What is better, "complete" or "completed"?

I want to know which sounds the most encouraging. Which of these two promotes more of an elation or satisfaction of accomplishment.

Personally I'm leaning towards "completed" as the "d" suffix bring a more substantial and abrupt ending, which to me more clearly signifies the significance of the accomplished item.


texts:
I will get stronger everywhere above my hips.
Is "everywhere" an adverb or noun in this sentence?


texts:
If my teacher's first name is Robert and his last name is Dowry, and I have to send him an email, then which of the following will be correct?

  Dear Sir Dowry,
  Dear Sir Robert,
  Dear Sir Robert Dowry,


texts: Use of “would” in the specific situation

texts:
A man asked a question to his friend, “Why was it the best time for
Bilal to be in his home?”
His friend replied, “It would be the best
time for Bilal to be in his home because his uncle visited him at that time.”

In what sense is the modal verb would being used above?
Can we replace the would used there with this instead:

It might have been the best time. . . ..

What job does would do in the quoted dialogue above?


texts: Does / mean "of"? What does "Audit / Contract Monthly report/ Toolbox meeting Minutes /signed attendance sheet" mean? It is a cell of a table.


texts: Should we always use a prepositional object after an intransitive verb?

texts:
I arrived at home.

vs.

  I arrived home.

"Arrive" is an intransitive verb and it needs a prepositional object, but 'home' is an adverb of place and I don't think any preposition can be used before it, or at least so I was taught.

So, which one of the above is correct?


texts: I'm looking for a word that describes that moment you feel overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of nature

texts: I was on a mountain the other day and had a moment where I just had to stop and take it all in. I felt insignificant (in the best way) and just stopped to admire where I was. The closest words I could find was something along the lines of biophilia, or the German word Waldeinsamkeit.


texts:
I generally hear y'alls's used as the possessive form, but I have also heard yourn. Since y'all is a colloquial pronoun, its possessive form is basically liberated from prescriptive linguistics which would probably say that y'all is a contraction for you all and therefore must be possessivized as of all of you.

Do you know if there is a "standard" way to make y'all possessive, insofar as y'all usage can be considered standard?


texts: Why is Puerto Rico typically pronounced like "Porda Rico" by many English speakers?

texts:
What I hear sounds like "porda". Somehow, "Puer" comes out sounding like /pɔr/ instead of /pwɛr/ and the "to" at the end sounds like a /də/ or /tə/ instead of /toʊ/.

Why is the pronunciation so different from the original Spanish one?


texts: Meaning and origins of the American slang expression "ad' a boy, shooter!"

texts:
What does the American slang expression ad' a boy, shooter! mean? In high school I had an American teacher who would always say this, can't remember which state he was from, I think it's an abbreviation of what a boy, shooter!.

He would say this whenever someone would give a correct answer or good reasoning to a problem or question he would have pointed out.

What does the shooter part actually mean. Does it imply something sexual such as ejaculation from the penis. Does it imply ejaculation of words from the mouth. Spitting it out, in other words.

I can't describe the amount of fun we all had with this expression, (which was just used, and never explained).


texts: What is the behavior where one closes their nose with their lips to elude foul odour called?

texts: I have seen this question, and it is not exactly what I'm asking. Sometimes people (most especially in developing countries) raise the tip of their lips to cover their nose when a foul odour is sensed or to jeer a person. In my own language this is called 'isu imi' (To jam the nose), I'm writing a short story and I'm trying to find the best way to describe the phenomena.


texts:
Context
My brother and I when having a conversation that refers to our mother usually use "my mom" to refer to her. For example "Have you talked to my mom today?" is a common question we ask.

Now the discussion came up when some of our friends pointed out that it was weird and incorrect for us to say "my mom" since we share the same mom and are siblings and that we should just say "mom".
However, my brother and I think its grammatically correct to use "my mom" since its technically a factual statement.

I'm just trying to find out if our usage is incorrect in English grammar and if our friend is correct that we shouldn't use the pronoun "my" in conversations between siblings.

I just wanted to clarify that while English isn't our native language, my brother and I have notice that we also don't use the correct possessive pronoun in Spanish. Now what I'm getting from both of the answers posted is that this is more of its technically correct, but it might confuse other speakers as its not common use.


texts: Name for a device that prevents the user from operating something incorrectly

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe a built-in device that prevents the user from incorrectly using/operating the thing it is on.

e.g. A tilt and turn window has a device which prevents the user from turning the handle further when the sash is open which could make it drop out and fall on the person.

It removes the possibility/opportunity for a user to do something wrong that would cause the window/object to fail.

I've found

"Faulty operation lock"
"anti-mishandling device"

I find them unclear, sound unnatural and only appear on the websites of foreign companies (hence bad translations).

"Fail safe device" is ok, but I find it too vague in this context.

Any ideas?


texts: Possessive determiner followed by a stand-alone adjective?

texts:
My grammar lecturer told us that "I thought her selfish." is correct and it is used like the sentence "I thought she was selfish." He said native English speakers use this structure a lot, but us non-native speakers don't. Which confused me.
I asked my friends who were native English speakers and one of them said that it's old English. I tried researching about it but to no avail. Can someone please justify why "I thought her selfish." is correct grammatically, even if it's an outdated grammar rule? I really want to know.


texts:
In this article there is a sentence like this

  The groundbreaking fact about channel capacity, though, was not simply that it could be traded for or traded away

The whole circumstance is

  Shannon’s paper was the first to define the idea of channel capacity, the number of bits per second that a channel can accurately handle. He proved a precise relationship between a channel’s capacity and two of its other qualities: bandwidth (or the range of frequencies it could accommodate) and its ratio of signal to noise. The groundbreaking fact about channel capacity, though, was not simply that it could be traded for or traded away. It was that there is a hard cap—a “speed limit” in bits per second—on accurate communication in any medium. Past this point, which was soon enough named the Shannon limit, our accuracy breaks down.

I don't really understand the meaning of that sentence. What does it mean by trade away and trade for in that sentence?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
Ellipsis that results in one word serving as both subject and object
I am “adjective” and I am “present continuous” in one sentence

I was using some exercise equipment the other day and saw the sign:

Stop if you feel faint or pain

It immediately struck me as wrong, because faint and pain seem to force feel to serve two different verb functions. Is that true?
I think correct alternates would be:

Stop if you feel faint or pained
Stop if you feel faintness or pain

Here's a contrived example that exposes the wrongness I detected from it. Imagine you're reaching into a box to feel the objects inside, and you're told:

Stop if you feel happy or noodles

If that doesn't make you smile, you don't live in my world! :)


texts: What's the difference in meaning and usage between "target" and "goal"?

texts:
What are the differences in usage and meaning?

For example, is it,

  My targets for 2011 are...

or

  My goals for 2011 are...

Which one is correct or more suitable here?


texts: Is "who are doing the dishes?" an acceptable question?

texts: If you know 2 people are doing the dishes, can you say "who are doing the dishes?" or would it always be "who is?"


texts:
I've been reading Bleak House, and I came across this sentence:

  Still the woman follows, crying, "Stop him, sir, pray stop him!" Allan, not knowing but that he has just robbed her of her money, follows in chase and runs so hard that he runs the boy down a dozen times...

What does but in this sentence mean?

And here is another, also from Bleak House:

  "And I would that you could take your leave, and we could all take our leave, Mr. Vholes."

I've never met such expression before. Is it an archaic variant of 'I would rather you'?


texts: What would be the word for "government by angels"?

texts:
Google just gives me the James Madison quote when I research this. The Federalist No. 51 says:

  It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

So, government by so noble a creature that abuse-control is unnecessary. Isn't it possible to combine a Greek or Latin word for "angel" with a Greek or Latin word for "government"? I'm unclear on the proper way to do this.


texts: Term meaning careful and thorough, almost excessively so

texts:
I'm trying to think of a term which means that one expends extra effort or materials in making sure that something is done properly, to an almost excessive or extravagant extent.

One good is example  is 'belt and braces'.

I'd like to think of equivalents which, similarly, don't have a negative connotation - equivalents which imply thoroughness.

'Overzealous', for example, has a similar meaning but implies negative excess.

It could be a word or phrase.

I'd like to use the word or phrase to describe an approach, i.e. 'I did it X way because it was sure to cover everything, a [word or phrase goes here] approach.'

So far, many of the suggestions have been negative in connotation:

Over-designing

Pedantic

Nitpicky

These are all undesirable traits and therefore not what I was looking for. Meticulous is more what I was looking for, but is less suitable when talking about one specific act.

The context is something like:

'It was likely that the necessary part lay between 5-10, but we took all of 1-20 in order to make certain that we got it.'

That is a belt-and-braces approach.


texts: "Anachronism" is to "time" as what is to "space"?

texts: Is there a noun for something that is "out of place" in space, like an anachronism is "out of place" in time? E.g., an old-timey barber shop in a chic neighborhood.


texts: Word to describe someone who secretly creates trouble?

texts:
I'm trying to find a word that best describes someone who secretly causes problems for other people. Sort of like a shit-stirrer or trouble maker but specifically for when the identity of the trouble-maker is unknown.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Have a great day.


texts: Is it stylistically correct to use "me" after an adjective ? Like "Intelligent me"

texts:
I am a non-native speaker and I was just wondering whether it is stylistically and grammatically correct to write something like
"smart me made the same mistake again"
or
"Intelligent me could not solve the riddle"
is this similar to saying "fifteen-year-old me?"
Can I say "my smart self" instead ?


texts: what does this sentence mean-"Enigmatically indifferent to its surroundings"

texts:
"Enigmatically indifferent to its surroundings"
I first thought it means there is no difference between it and the surroundings, but after looking up the first two words I am sure I am wrong.
Context:
"When gravity is sufficiently high, nothing not even light can get out. Such a place is called a black hole. Enigmatically indifferent to its surroundings, it is a kind of cosmic Cheshire cat.


texts: Word or phrase meaning "working hours have ended, and it's time to go home"?

texts: What word or phrase is used to signify that the work day has ended?


texts: What's the word for "putting money on your banking card"?

texts: What is the correct single word for the bank operation when you need to put cash to your banking card?


texts:
What is the name for a word that is shortened, but done somewhat incorrectly?

As an example, the word distro is shortened from the word distribution, but with the trailing i changed to an o.

Therefore, the word distro is a ________ of the word distribution.

variant?
corruption?


texts:
A short question today about the usage of "be" without using "to" in front of it.

Here is an example of each situation:
1. "He requested that the new car be fast."
2. "He requested for the new car to be fast."

Are these both correct, or is example 1 a bit funny?


texts: Which is correct: Children's creativity is OR gets developed properly ...?

texts:
In a conversation, which was about children's development in a nursery school, I came across this sentence.

Children's creativity gets developed properly because they play with
materials found in nature e.g. sticks or leaves.

To my mind "gets developed" does not sound quite right and I think developed collocates with the verb "to be". So it should be

...is developed properly.

What are your thoughts about that?


texts: A phrase to use in lieu of "the air was thick with anticipation"...?

texts:
I'm an amateur, freelance editor and I'm currently working on a MS. The author uses "the air was thick with anticipation" frequently and I can't seem to find a replacement phrase for this specific passage that's suitable.

A little context: in the scene I'm working on now, there's an argument between two major characters; two women who are leaders of a group of people. The argument is very intense and after one walks away, they calm down and go into a room to talk privately and resolve the situation. The group of people they lead are waiting for them to return. The text in question currently says:

  The air on the main level grew thick with anticipation as the band awaited Jezz and Lilly’s return.  So far, twenty minutes after Lilly had ascended the stairs to work things out with Jezz, there had been no yelling or raised voices. Katalina took that as a good sign as she sat in the high backed chair by the hearth, fiddling with the frayed seams. No one spoke, but everyone could feel the anticipation that hung thickly in the air.

I'm looking for a phrase to replace the end of the final sentence.
It's not necessarily a hopeful situation, but it's also not negative. More nervousness or anxious anticipation. I've looked over a few Q&As on here and the most frequent suggestions I'm seeing are "dread" and "trepidation" which set a rather negative tone that I don't feel apply to this specific scene. Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thanks!


texts: Are there different tones in which to say "How are you?" that reflect different situations?

texts:
I was wondering how many ways/tones to speak "How are you?"

Which tone/way to use in different situations:

when seeing somebody you don't expect
to have a conversation after?
when seeing your supervisor/boss?
when seeing your friends?
...

For example, in this movie beauty-and-the-briefcase, at 30:15, Lane says "How are you?" to Seth and then Seth relies with a different way of "How are you?" Is Lane putting stress on "are"? In what kinds of situation will one  stress "are", what kinds of situation will one stress "How", and what kinds for speaking like Seth?


texts: Perhaps or Maybe or I Guess/Think - which one is correct in formal (office) email writing

texts:
Background:

Boss: Did you get that X thing is done?
Me: Yes, that's done.
Boss: No that's not done, I am still getting calls from people asking for X?
Me: Oh, Perhaps/Maybe/I guess/I think you are asking about Y thing.

Here I was chatting with my boss, I doubt what should I use out of these if I want to make it more formal chat/email?
If none are correct, please suggest.


texts:
I have checked many online dictionaries - they all agree that one of the meanings of "unhinged" is "disturbed" or "unbalanced" but none give a good explanation as to how this meaning came into being.

Any ideas?


texts:
In the Hebrew scriptures Abraham's name is Avraham and not Abraham (אַבְרָהָם). Is has a v and not a b. The same goes for Rebecca, who is called Rivka in Hebrew. Both v and b sounds are represented by the same letter, the letter ב, but the sound b is represented by   the letter with a dot inside (known as dagesh) and then it's called bet, while the sound v is represented by the letter without the dagesh and called vet (Wiki article for the letter). Here is how they look: בּ vs ב.

In Arabic, Abraham is called Ibrahim, also with b, but the Arabic language has no v sound so it's understandable that it's replaced.

What is the source for the change is the sound?


texts: Can I use "but" when the second part of a sentence isn't in contrast to the first?

texts:
My understanding of the conjunction "but"  is that it should be used when the second part of a sentence rebuts the first.  However, I often find myself using it when the second part isn't rebutting anything.

e.g

  I'm not sure if you're around this Sunday, but I'm going to the baseball game if you would like to come.

In that example is it correct to use "but"? If not, then what should I use?


texts: Are “Pick up your socks” and “Have your socks bronzed” popular expressions as the antithesis?

texts:
I found the phrase “Pick up your socks” and “Have your socks bronzed” in the following sentence of Maureen Dawd’s article in today’s New York Times:

  “When Barack is cocky and looks at Michelle, he might see her thinking: “You’re no messiah. Pick up your socks.” But when Newt is cocky and looks at Callista, he sees her thinking: “You are the messiah. We’ll have your socks bronzed.”

As the sentence is followed by the line, “Where Michelle sees herself as the puncturer of delusions, ‘the Department of ‘Let’s Get Real,’ as an aide called her,”
I can guess “pick up your socks” means “know yourself, be realistic” and “have your socks bronzed,” means “make you glorious/ grandeur”

Is my understanding right or off the mark? Are both of the phrases popular expressions as the antithesis?


texts: The proofs of theorems vs the proof of theorems

texts:
Suppose that there are three Theorems, say Theorem A, Theorem B and Theorem C.

I want to refer all of proofs of Theorem A,B,C at the same time.

Which one is correct?

From the proofs of Theorem A,B and C, ~~
From the proof of Theorem A, B and C, ~


texts: Looking for an ideological word (-ism) to say overgeneralize something

texts: I am looking for a word, probably ending with -sm/ism but not necessarily that is to say because one attribute of someone or something is bad, then everything about this person or thing is bad. Is there a word to express this philosophical belief?


texts: A word or phrase for a person who acts or dresses like the weather is going to change suddenly?

texts:
In Portuguese, when a person carries an umbrella on a sunny day, we say that this person is "calling the rain". When they wear a sweater on a warm day, we say that they are "calling the cold [weather]", and so on.

How to express this in English? Are there set ways to make ironic comments about it?


texts: An adjective meaning something that is firmly held aloft

texts:
I've been racking my brain and I can't seem to think of an adjective that means "firmly held aloft".  For example, a weathercock may be firmly held aloft at the top of a pole.  A sign may be firmly held aloft at the top of a scaffold.  A TV aerial may be firmly held aloft at the top of a house's ceiling.  I'd like a single adjective for this (for brevity), so I can say something like:

  I noticed the [firmly-held-aloft] weathercock on the church.
  He pulled himself up by the [firmly-held-aloft] handlebars.
  You could clearly see the time on the [firmly-held-aloft] clock.

I guess it's kind of the antonym of "dangling".  Can anyone think of any such adjectives?


texts: I believe that disappear (and vanish) are stative verbs because it seems that they do not have progressive aspect. I want to confirm it.


texts:
can anyone tell me the meaning of "There was not anyone in the room but liked his singing"
Is this sentence correct and if it is, then could anyone explain to me it's meaning.


texts: Why use active voice in "Five killed as aircraft hits shopping centre"?

texts:
I think the five people were killed in the aircraft from this news. The headline is:

  Melbourne plane crash: Five killed as aircraft hits shopping centre

Why use active voice rather than passive voice in this news headline?

Is the auxiliary verb dropped in this sentence? Is the full sentence "Five have been killed as aircraft his shopping centre"?


texts:
In normal usage, people consider "lazy" to have negative connotation. I hear people use "lazy" to mean three things.

Preferring not to do unnecessary things
Delaying necessary things until they absolutely require attention
Not wanting to do anything, even if necessary

In computer science, we often use "lazy" with the second meaning and we use it in a positive connotation.

Are there words which succinctly differentiate these three situations?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "laundry list"?

texts:
Oxford English Dictionaries defines "laundry list" as follows:

  A long or exhaustive list of people or things.
  ‘a laundry list of people and organizations that would have to be won over’

I'm confused by this phrase because I have never made a list of any length while doing laundry (my family and I have always done laundry on our own in our houses). Is there some cultural context I'm missing? How did this phrase come about?


texts: Is there a more common phrase that means "preponed"?

texts: I was aware of this and this stackexchange post discuss the same. There is no prepone in English. Ok, then how do I say Our meeting is preponed in correct way? What is the correct word/phrase for prepone?


texts:
Why is sew (/səʊ/ or /sō/) pronounced similar to so rather than to few or sue?

Looking at its etymology,

  Old English siwian "to stitch," earlier siowian, from Proto-Germanic *siwjanan (cf. Old Norse syja, Swedish sy, Old High German siuwan, Gothic siujan "to sew"), from PIE root *syu- "to bind, sew" (cf. Sanskrit sivyati "sews," sutram "thread, string;" Greek hymen "thin skin, membrane," hymnos "song;" Latin suere "to sew, sew together;" Old Church Slavonic sijo "to sew," sivu "seam;" Lettish siuviu, siuti "to sew," siuvikis "tailor;" Russian svec "tailor"). Related: Sewed; sewing. Sewing machine is attested from 1847.

siowian appears to be the only word which could have been pronounced with a /səʊ/. But the later spelling of siwian sounds unlikely to have been pronounced so.

Also, are there other similarly spelt words which have the same irregularity in pronunciation?


texts:
In The Fortune Cookie (1966) Walter Matthau's character, a cunning lawyer, says:

What's the matter? You feel sorry for insurance companies? They got so much money they don't know what to do with it. They've run out of storage space--they have to microfilm it. What's a quarter of a million to them? They take it out of petty cash. So don't give me with the scruples.

"Don't give me with the scruples!" sounds very peculiar to my ear, syntactically. People say "I have no scruples against doing that." But "Don't give me with" is a curious construct, so is "Don't give me with the scruples." Walter Matthau had a very typical New York accent and way of speaking. I wonder if this is his idiolect or something typical of (dated?) NY dialect?
Edit: Jack Lemmon's character later in the same movie says something similar: "Don't give me with that torch."


texts: term for demonstrating favorable aspects of a skill, while leaving out cautionary notes

texts:
OK, so there's the term "whitewashing" which means to omit or downplay mention of negative aspects of something, in order to mislead someone else to overlook those negative aspects.

Is there a similar term (not necessarily invoking malicious intent, but rather something that leans more towards neglect) in the context of teaching or demonstration?

An example is Mickey in the Sorcerer's Apprentice scene of Fantasia; he learns from the wizard how to animate the brooms, but not how to stop them.

Or teaching someone how to fly a plane without showing them how to land.


texts:
Obama said to Carter, "Jimmy, you're as resilient as they come, and along with the rest of America, we are rooting for you."

What does "they" refer to in "as resilient as they come?"


texts: Is "unto" always interchangeable with "to"?

texts:
The word unto often shows up in the Bible, and I am curious to know whether it can always be replaced with the more familiar preposition to, while staying grammatical and making sense.

Take this example.

  And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and he gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharao the king of Egypt, that they should bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 6:13 Douay-Rheims)

Would the sentence still be grammatical if unto were replaced with to? Would it have the same meaning? Would it read as well?

One point worth mentioning is that, in the verse above, unto creates a more iambic rhythm in the sentence. Could this be a reason why it was used so much?


texts: Is there a word in English that express that something though less would suffice the need by the grace of God

texts:
Is there a word in English to substitute barka in the Arabic language to mean that though something is less but can be sufficient by the grace of Allah or God.

For example: you have made a meal for four people but suddenly two more people join you. So even though in all likely consequence the food should fall short, by the grace of God it was sufficient for all six people. The word for this in Arabic is barka.


texts: Opposite logical fallacy to "straw man"?

texts:
The straw man fallacy is where an attacker sets up a "straw man" that looks superficially similar to their opponent's position, but is more easily attacked.  They then attack the straw man and claim to have successfully defeated the opponent's position.

In the reverse of this, a defender sets up an "iron man" (perhaps?) that looks superficially similar to their own position, but is more easily defended.  They successfully defend the iron man and claim to have successfully defended their own position.

Is there an existing word for this latter fallacy?

I get the impression people often do it subconsciously, and sometimes before an attack is even made (examples).  You could call it a straw man attack on behalf of the defendant I suppose (i.e. your straw man is your misrepresentation of the attacker's stance as an attack on the iron man) but that adds a level of indirection over the original situation that the fallacy describes.  Also, if the defense is conceived of before an attack is made, the "straw man" wouldn't even exist yet - only a plan to construct him should the need arise - but the "iron man" is definitely there all along.