texts: Are expressions "set (something) to ringing" and "set (something) to watering" using invalid grammar?

texts:
I chanced upon these sentences, and I wondered about their grammar because they don’t sound right to me:

The wind sets all the bells to ringing. (Should this be “sets all bells ringing”?)
The aroma of the cake sets my mouth to watering. (Should this be “makes my mouth water”?)

Are those right or wrong? If they’re ok, then what is the grammar they’re following? If they’re not ok, then what should they be instead and why would native speakers get this wrong?


texts:
You can read the chapter where the word was met. And I put a little extract below:

  To me the convalescent would it now be suffering and torment to believe in such phantoms: suffering would it now be to me, and humiliation. Thus I speak to backworldsmen.
  Suffering was it, and impotence - that created all backworlds; and the short madness of happiness, which only the greatest sufferer experienceth.
  Weariness, which seeketh to get the ultimate one leap, with a death-leap; a poor ignorant weariness, unwilling even to will any longer: that created all gods and backworlds.

There is also a derived word "backworldsmen". I guess the world is author-invented? Could you shed some light on its meaning?


texts: what is a phrase for something that is detrimental but is also a solution for the problem?

texts: what would be the suitable phrase for something that is bad but is also a solution for the problem? for example if I say internet has brought cyberterrorism but is also very useful for  countering terrorism.


texts: Reading zero as O (fifteenth letter in English)

texts:
I’ve observed that people read the digit zero  as oh  as though it were the letter O. For example,  in a telephone number where 0800  is oh eight hundred.

Why?  Where was this decided, or can anyone prove that it is correct?  Where can we use this form?


texts:
What is the past tense of "overdue"?  The context is billing/invoicing. For example I'd like to say something like this (which I believe is incorrect):

  "Invoice overdued"


texts:
A:I was the 1st one in queue/I was the second player
B:How many?
Is what B said correct? Or what is the question for ordinal numbers? The question from B is not asking how many people in the queue was, it's asking the number A was in the queue. In my native language we have a "how" question for that but I was struggling to ask the same in English so I apologize perhaps my question doesn't make sense but I would really appreciate your help.. Would it be okay to ask :"what number? which number were you? or something like that  sorry for bad English and thank you in advance


texts: Is the term "sexual preference" generally considered offensive now, and has it always been?

texts:
In American politics, Judge Amy Barrett used the term "sexual preference" during her confirmation hearing. This was criticized as offensive by writers at publications such as CNN, USAToday, and Vox.
Several popular conservative pundits claimed that the term was not considered offensive until Barrett used it:

I sincerely didn’t know “sexual preference” was considered problematic until I heard The Daily today.

Thomas Williams

To be clear, the "sexual preference" attack is a bad faith contrivance. The evidence its advocates present in its defense doesn't hold up. We are to deny truth, as we knew it 48 hours ago, in deference to the new party line.

Noah Rothman

@MerriamWebster
dictionary redefining words on the spot apparently in an attempt to smear a SCOTUS nominee.
Archive here: https://web.archive.org/web/20200928131548/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preference
No mention of the term being offensive just days ago.

Steven Crowder
Are these claims correct?
All that I can confirm is that as recently as September 28th, the Merriam-Webster page did not mark this term as offensive (see the link in Steven Crowder's tweet), but does currently label it offensive.
I am unable to find any sort of authoritative consensus on this term being offensive or inoffensive dating before Tuesday's hearing.


texts: "Many issues" vs "Many are the issues". What the difference?

texts:
I am reading the text and see "Many are the issues". Why not "Many issues"?

Full example:

  It is an unquestionable fact that the limited financial resources
  allocated to a local council must be used in the most efficient and
  worthy of ways. Many are the issues that deserve to be addressed,
  however the arts and the environment are surely at the forefront of
  issues that any government must consider investing in.


texts: What's the meaning of "he walked away a free man"?

texts:
I am reading a grammar book. There is an example sentence I can't understand. There is a special pattern where a complement occurs with an action verb, not a linking verb.

The related example sentence is this:

  He walked away a free man.

What's the meaning of the example sentence? "Walked away"?


texts:
I usually meet "due to" usage in a document or conversation, but in different ways. I did some research and found out that "due to" is adjectival.

Thus, the correct sentence should be:

  The cancellation was due to rain

Instead of:

  It was cancelled due to rain

But when I looked it up in Longman Dictionary, I found:

  She has been absent from work due to illness

Can anybody tell me why the above sentence is correct?


texts: Do we need to use “All” to describe a set?

texts:
For example, is there a difference between:

All birds have feathers

And

Birds have feathers


texts: What to call the lump of chewed (chewing) gum?

texts:
When I sat on a park bench comfortably,  I felt something sticky on my elbow. It is nothing but a lump of chewed (chewing) gum. Somebody has stuck it to the back of the bench.

Is there any single word for a lump of chewed gum ?


texts:
I always assumed the phrase "craic on" was actually "crack on", however my naivety was corrected today when I was informed that the correct spelling is, in fact, "craic".

I have never seen this word before. Where did it come from and what does it actually mean?


texts: A word to describe a person who is in top/winning bracket of a competitive game

texts:
I am looking for a word that would describe a player who is, for example, in a TOP 10 chart and is eligible for a prize. That means that if he would suddenly lose his/her position and get ranked 11 or lower, he/she could no longer be called that way, since that player is not one of the victors.

I'll give a small example of use:

My games: 41 <-- this is total amount of games the player takes part in
Games where I hold a top rank: 11 <-- this is where need help

I would like this to be explained in 1-2 words and I was wondering if such word already exists.
If at all possible I would like to use international or simple english.


texts:
According to Online Etymology Dictionary, the "mare" in nightmare means  an evil female spirit/monster that affects sleepers during the night.

Very interesting. Are there other words in English referring to female monsters or evil spirits, which mean a different thing? I'm very curious to find out.


texts: Put the right man "on the right job" or "in the right job"?

texts: I googled and found some examples with "in". But when I asked my native friend, he told me it should be "on".


texts:
What is the grammatical difference between a title of a story called:

  A girl who wanted to be a boy

and

  The girl who wanted to be a boy.

The story is about a girl who discovers she is in the wrong body, and wants to be a boy. Her temper causes an incident, which leaves her brother in a coma. Now she finds herself in the middle of a police investigation, her parents split up, the older boy who is responsible for her brother ending up in a coma, blackmails her - and that is just the start of her problems.

Google books shows both versions:

A girl who wanted to be a boy

The girl who wanted to be a boy


texts:
Might be better for a math or datacomm exchange, but I'll try here first:

Given that "rate" means the number of times that an event occurs in a unit of time, what is the opposite/inverse of  that term?  Ie, what is a term for the time between events?

"Latency" comes to mind but is not quite right since it generally refers to the time between cause and effect, not between essentially identical events.


texts: Number agreement of a noun with several adjectives

texts:
If there are several adjectives referring to different instances of the same noun, should the noun be plural?

For example, which of the following is correct?

  The first, second, fifth and eighth runner...
  The first, second, fifth and eighth runners...


texts: Why is it “Thank you! You’re subscribed,” not “You subscribed,” or “You’ve subscribed”?

texts:
I received e-mail from New York Times that reads;

  What We’re Reading: Get recommendations from New York Times reporters
  and editors, highlighting great stories from around the web. “What
  We’re Reading” emails are sent twice a week.  Sign up

I pushed “Sign Up” (but I didn't pay or agree to pay anything for this service), and found the following message in turn;

"Thank you! You’re subscribed."

OALED defines ‘subscribe’ as verb (1) to pay money, normally once a year, to receive regular copies of a newspaper, magazine, etc.

Why is it "You're subscribed" in passive form, not in active form?


texts: WordSearch: Name for ontology practitioner?

texts: What is the proper name for a practitioner of ontology? Note that there are also philosophers of ontology, who are not practitioners (they don't use ontologies).


texts: There is a supermarket called Meijer near my house, how do you pronounce 'Meijer'  ?  Does it sound like 'mire' ?


texts: What is the meaning of the expression "Get all you can, can all you get, sit on the can"?

texts:
What does "Get all you can, can all you get, sit on the can." mean? It seems that Google can't help me with this one.

Could you also explain its origin and how it is related to the meaning?


texts:
I don't know the meaning of this sentence below. Could anyone help? Thanks!

"Tim doesn't trust his roommates not to finish his breakfast."

Context: Tim is having a confidential phone call in the kitchen. His roommates are in the living room, where they can hear what he says on the phone. All of them are having breakfast on their own.

I guess the meaning is that "Because Tim doesn't finish his breakfast, he stays in the kitchen. However, he does not trust his roommates." Is that correct?


texts: "I can’t *make effort with* my arms, after surgery" - Is this correct?

texts:
After surgery, we have to avoid lifting things or making any kind of effort with the part of body that is related to the surgery, in order to preserve that part of the body and avoid further health complications. Would you use "make effort with" to talk about this?

"I can’t make effort with my arms, after surgery".

"My doctor said I shouldn't make effort with my leg, afer surgery"

I don't know, I don't feel this is right... How would you say this?


texts:
It has been drawn to my attention that I may not be using the verb 'awake'correctly in the active and passive. Please could someone confirm that I have now got this right.

In their simple present tenses they are: Active, 'I awake each morning at 6.00am'; and passive, 'I am awaken each morning by an alarm clock'.

Past tenses therefore are: Active, 'I awoke this morning at 5.00am'; and Passive, 'I was awaken by the sound of thunder'.

Perfect: Active, 'I have awoken early all my life'; and passive, 'I have often been awakened by a passing train'

Pluperfect: Active,'I had awoken by the time the phone rang'; and passive, ' I had been awakened by noises downstairs'.

Which other verbs behave in this way?


texts: So which should it be - 'lock and load' or 'load and lock'?

texts:
Employed in the Security Industry for over twenty years I have occasionally been encouraged to 'lock and load' - an exhortation to be ready for what is coming.

But I would have expected to 'load' myself with kit and courage - first - then to 'lock' my equipment and personal disposition as a secondary activity.

Indeed, my own experience of weaponry (confined to a firing range in Buckinghamshire) is of loading the weapon, then locking the weapon.

My observation, also, of larger pieces of belligerent equipment, is that they are loaded with ammunition, first, and then secured for firing.

The Wictionary article on 'lock and load' attributes the modern beginnings of its popular use to a John Wayne film in 1949. The script writer at the time is presumably quoting from an instructor manual, dated 1940, which refers to dummy (!) cartridges, reference 3. of the article.

It is doubtful that the filmed quote refers to 'musquets' (sic) and their peculiarities, reference 1. of the article.

But the article also references a British saying 'loaded and locked' :

  The transposition "loaded and locked" is used by Walter Scott in 1815, unambiguously in reference to a flintlock pistol.

And also a German saying :

  German "laden und sichern" ("load and secure")

So which is it  :

1) Do I 'lock and load' my 'musquet' and dummy catridges with the instructor and John Wayne ?

2) Or do I 'load and lock' with Walter Scott and the German army ?

3) Or do I forget practicality and just accept three words that sound vaguely like 'rock and roll' ?


texts: What is the best way of asking someone his or her strongest language?

texts: It seems that the term 'first language', 'native language', 'mother tongue' each may have some different connotations or unnecessary implications of political correctness to some people. 'L1' seems to be a strong candidate, but I'm afraid some non-English native speakers may not understand the term instantly. I'm running some survey and want to add this question to a group of people most of whose L1 is not English.


texts:
It's easy to say that you outgrew your clothes, but what's the word to indicate the opposite?

  I lost so much weight that I _ _ _ _ _ my belt!


texts:
Here's one sentence from "The grammar book. An ESL/EFL teachers course  by Celce-Murcia  and Larcen Freeman.

  In some preliminary research Bergsnev(1976) has shown that abstract
  nouns derived from verbs and adjectives often have both a mass and a
  count form for expressing a generality in English,e.g:…

The bold part of phrase is what sort of puzzles me. Coordination is a vast subject consisting of numerous different points and nuances that pretty often may result in ambiguity and vagueness.

Both a mass and a count form - at first sight seems to be okay. As may be noticed, this is just ellipsis of the word "form".

But, shouldn't it be "a mass and a count forms - then?

That has never given rise to difficulties for me, but now having started analyzing the sentence and trying to look up "coordination" in "A comprehensive grammar of the English language I'm being rather doubtful.

So the question is - what is the rule of coordination that's being used in this example and why not use the plural form of the noun?


texts: Is ”Have you got paper?” a well-formed question?

texts:
Is it grammatical to ask Have you got paper?

Do you have to specify have you got a piece of paper, any paper, or some paper — or can you just say paper?


texts: Were emoticon-analogues used in the past?

texts:
I don't mean the set of smileys we use today which are surely a result of the keys on a keyboard.

What I do mean is: In casual conversation before the creation of the personal computer, did people who wrote letters or notes have the ability to attach an emotion to things that they wrote in a simple way?

For example, today I might write:

  Don't worry about it :)

which establishes very many things in very concise way.

Did the writers of the past have some mechanism for doing this, or did they write out everything?


texts: All right, but I still need to know what are the requirements necessary to meet the requirements of that program in relation of language proficiency, age and work experience?, Keeping in mind that I have Bachelor's degree in English language.


texts: List of names when there is ownership associated

texts:
Ok, so I am supposed to order business cards for people, then the company sends me the proof which I check over for correctness. When I do three on the people's names are right, one is wrong. So I want to write,

Angel, Jane, and Peter's cards are correct, but Jim's name is misspelled.

This doesn't look right to me. It makes me feel like Peter is owning all the possesive and not sharing with Angel and Jane, who have cards that are just as correct.

What would be the best way to write this sentence?

Thanks,

Rose.


texts: Can we use 'undesirable' as an opposite of 'desirable' in the romantic meaning of the term?

texts:
Considering the use of 'desirable' in a romantic sense to mean 'attractive' as in

"She looks so desirable in that golden dress!"

is 'undesirable' appropriate to be used as antonym?

She found him undesirable.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/undesirable

undesirable
ADJECTIVE
Not wanted or desirable because harmful, objectionable, or unpleasant.
‘the drug's undesirable side effects’

Although the above dictionary does list 'unpleasant' as a meaning, I wonder whether 'undesirable' is (not) a good choice of word to mean 'unattractive' or 'not desirable' in the romantic sense?
Edit: Based on the first answer,'undesirable' seems to be an example of a type of word that is constructed by adding a negative prefix to another word, but no longer serves as its most common antonym (Un + desirable = undesirable, but the most common antonym of desirable is now apparently 'unattractive') -- can members quote a few other examples?


texts: Is there a noun for an intentionally simplified task?

texts:
Similar to "dumbed-down" but a noun, with a stress on the ease of task execution.
E.g. "The manager asked for expedited reviews of contributions because he wanted the project to be a(n) '-----'"


texts: Should I state "the data are," or "the data is."

texts:
I have an Excel sheet with a series of variables and the formula output.  I am trying to report what the data is (are?).

Should I say the "data are suggesting," or "the data suggests"?  The latter sounds correct, but the former appears to be more accurate. Or does it even matter?


texts: Was/were in "Orion and Crew Dragon data was/were added."

texts:
I wanted to confirm which of the options would be correct here. My brain can find reasoning for both.
Reason for "were":

The sentence could be rephrased as "Orion data and Crew Dragon data were added.", in which I'd use were since there are two names ("Orion data" and "Crew Dragon data").

Reason for "was":

I may be wrong in this, but I think that "Orion and Crew Dragon" can work as a modifier to "data". In this case I'd use "was", since the subject would be "data".

I think both of them might be valid choices, but I'd like to confirm.


texts: What kind of phrase is "Dear (recipient name)?

texts:
I posted this question In "Dear X" what function does "X" serve? and realized that I didn't express the question properly.  This is my meaning:

One can start a letter with Dear Jane, Dear Mr Jobs: or Dear Bob

Why is it that the expression Dear (person's name) can take either a comma, colon, or nothing and still be acceptable?  What kind of phrase is Dear (person's name) that makes it open to such varied interpretation and use?


texts:
Suppose, I am a student and I am at school. I need to meet the principal. I go to his office, but he is not in. Now I ask myself a question about his presence.
Which one of the following is the most suitable form and how it is different from the other forms:

1. Where can he go?
2. Where could he go?
3. Where will he go?


texts:
What's correct?

  Environmental enrichment leads to more active behaviour in an open field and causes a shorter latency to interact with a novel object"

Or should it be 'latency to interacting'?

The sentence is about battery chickens. The idea is that a richer environment causes chickens to be bolder when encountering a new object; they take less time before they approach it


texts: "title" vs "appellation" vs "designation" vs "denomination"

texts:
I encountered these words and was trying to understand the subtle difference between them.

From my understanding:

Designation is used when anything 'official' is being referred to, e.g.

  He was designated as a professor in the computer science department.

Also, title is an identifying name given to something, e.g.

  The River XYZ has been given the title ABC.

However, title, appellation and denomination are hard to differentiate from each other.

Can someone point out specific usages which highlight the exact meaning of these words?


texts:
What's a word that means to use commas inside long numbers?

10000 vs 10,000

There's words like this in other languages разряд in Russian.


texts: What do we call someone who takes excessive pride in their past?

texts:
What do we call someone who takes excessive pride in their past ?
Example : - He was always talking about his past feats.
What do you such a Person?


texts: ...if to a reduced degree - meaning, usage

texts:
Even so, many of the original advantages of stored programs (such as enhanced security
  and reduction in network traffic) still apply, if to a reduced degree. The use of
  stored programs is still regarded as a “best practice” by many application developers
  and architects.

Would the meaning of the sentence be the same, if I changed if to even if? To me, this particular usage of if looks strange.


texts: Is the following AmE usage of “chick” offensive?

texts:
GDoS shows the following AmE slang usage of chick (short for chicken) in different contexts:

Chick:

  of interest to girls or women, e.g. chick movie, chick lit.

  1993    [US]    M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World II [film script] Garth pulls out three, ‘The Red Shoes’. garth: Classic chick movie.
  1999    [UK]    Guardian Guide 22–28 May 59: The most brutal chick-flick ever made.
  2001    [US]    G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 102: Chick music, like all the rock and soul with female vocals she had been playing that night.
  2010    [UK]    K. Richards Life 151: We were listening to chick songs, doowop, uptown soul.Garth pulls out three, ‘The Red Shoes’. garth: Classic chick movie.

Is it just an ordinary, informal neutral usage of does it have some derogatory, possibly offensive nuance?


texts: Word or phrase for "exceptionally skilled in mêlée combat"

texts:
I'm looking for a word or a short phrase describing someone as particularly skilled or gifted, or very likely to hit one's opponent, in mêlée (single) combat.

However,

It mustn't be specific to just one kind of weapon.
It mustn't be about pure physiological traits such as strength or speed.
It mustn't be extremely colloquial (i.e. "badass" won't do).

You could say I want the mêlée version of marksman — which you could use for throwing knives, shooting a bow, or firing a gun.

To put it as the "blank" a sentence:

  You are quite the ________ - you took him down before he knew ow what hit him.

which should be the equivalent of

  You are quite the marksman - you got him in one shot.


texts: When you say "his revenge", can "his" refer to the person on whose behalf said revenge is being taken?

texts:
Context :
Male fictional character is killed.
Female fictional character wants to seek revenge.
I've heard someone refer to said revenge as "his revenge", but to me that seems wrong and it's her revenge, and it's merely sought on his behalf.
Are there rules that define this? How is this generally used? Thanks!


texts:
I wanted to read the book: Milkman.
Here is the first sentence of this book: "The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died."

What's the meaning of the word "McSomebody" here? I checked many dictionaries but I couldn't find any answers


texts: Is 'the hills near the wolves' an idiom in English?

texts:
In John Berger's 1984 collection of essays and poetry, And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief As Photos, we read:

  The transition from a nomadic life to a settled one is said to mark the beginning of what was later called civilization. Soon all those who survived outside the city began to be considered uncivilized. But that is another story – to be told in the hills near the wolves.

What does the hills near the wolves mean here?


texts: Using "shall" in Contracted Conditionals

texts:
Can I use "shall" to imply conditionality in the following way:

"Shall he be killed, his inheritance will be bequeathed to his sons."

I guess I could use the following sentence, though I am not sure:

"Should he be killed, his inheritance will be bequeathed to his sons."


texts: Has anyone heard this expression?  If so, what does it mean?  I use it to mean that one person should speak at a time, but there is no material whatsoever on the internet.  I was trying to find its origin too.


texts: Is there a single word for "women lover"?


texts:
In a movie that I watched recently, I heard-

  for aught I know,
  for aught I care.

I work with a lot of native speakers, and they all told me it's not in formal or informal usage anymore.

What's the ground reality?


texts: "conditions under which" or "conditions in which"?

texts:
Which is (more) correct?

  conditions under which

or

  conditions in which

Example:

  We should consider the conditions in/under which such behavior is performed.


texts: Is using the last name of a person without a title an accepted way of addressing?

texts:
I always heard people use Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms before people's names and that is how, I thought, it was done until I watched one of those Harry Potter films in which Malfoy (Sr) addresses Albus Dumbledore as just Dumbledore. I noticed later that even Rubeus Hagrid was addressed as only Hagrid. (I have actually read all the seven Harry Potter books but it never occured to me while reading.)

Is this way of addressing people common and considered polite?


texts: Scottish English: past participle instead of gerund or infinitive?

texts:
A few years ago I moved to North-eastern Scotland. I've noticed that people from all backgrounds and levels of education frequently use the past participle instead of the gerund or infinitive forms, both in written work and in conversation. For example, the group secretary at my place of work has just sent out an e-mail saying:

  I will be out of the office on Monday. If you have anything that needs booked before then, please let me know.

This just seems wrong to me: needs booking or needs to be booked would be correct. However, I hear it so regularly up here - and from people that are clearly well educated - that I'm beginning to think there must be more to it.

Does anyone know of any historical precedent for this kind of usage in Scotland, or elsewhere? Perhaps it's actually fine and I'm just showing my ignorance?

Thanks!


texts: How can I change my nickname so that it's pronounced correctly?

texts: My nickname for online games is "Davarius". I'd like the 'var' to be spoken so that it rhymes with 'car'. But people always say it "Da-VARE-ius". Should I spell it different? Or just deal with it.


texts: Term (phrase or word) for action to take as a penalty for losing a bet (or a game, etc.)

texts:
In particular, an embarrassing or undesirable action.

For example:

If I lose this bet, I will shave my head. What will your _____ be?
What _____ should we set for losing this game?


texts:
"...you probably don’t want to see three different photos of steak, no
  matter how well composed those shots are. You’ll also want to see a
  photo of the fully-loaded baked potato with Gummy Bears on it, and the
  mechanical bull out front..."

  wired.com

What does "fully loaded" mean?
And why is potato served with gummy bears? Is that some kind of a joke?


texts: When writing an informal letter, is it advisable to use the em rule at all?

texts:
I must point out before explaining my situation that I'm an English learner. However, for this question I need the help of an expert; that's why I'm asking here and not in ELL.

When writing an informal letter, I sometimes tend to use the em rule as follows:

Here I present an idea — but this is an opposite one, though. (1)
Here comes another idea — and something (closely or loosely) related. (2)

Examples of both constructions:

(1): "I hope I will overcome my father's death — it won't be easy, though."
(2): "I've found a purse — it must be Kathy's."

Is this practice correct at all? I ask because I was told it isn't: that the em rule is only used for marking dialogues (in a novel, for example).
As a side note, I've done some research indicating that em rules are used for strong interruptions: see this for instance. I suppose the provided examples fulfill this condition (if not, I'd be grateful to know why).

Thank you in advance!


texts:
I was just trying to formulate a sentence in an email, and wanted to reference a third person, inquiring as to which of something that person was referring in the forwarded mail message.

Is it:

"About which things is he talking?"

or

"About which things are he talking?"

Just FYI I originally had the "about" at the end. Not grammatically correct but no one talks like that anyway.

There seem to be conflicting rules here, but I don't know which one applies. Normally, with sentences like "What is he doing?" the "is" is part of "is talking," and similarly the second person "are talking." This would indicate that the first version is correct. But you could also argue that the helper verb applies to "things", and so should be "are" because "things" is plural.

I started to think that "is he" is correct, because if you turn the sentence around to answer it, you get "He is talking about those things" and not "he are talking". But still, there are other sentences like "Which gifts is he bringing to the party?" Now that just feels wrong, saying "gifts is" like that. But is it correct?


texts: Is the expression "quote you happy" accepted English grammar? What is its history?

texts:
I'm editing a document written by someone who grew up in the UK, which contains the phrase "We'll quote you happy". That doesn't parse for me (I grew up in New Zealand), but a quick search about the web suggests it is used with regard to cars or car insurance in the UK, and thus might derive from an advertisement that I have not seen.

Is there a specific meaning?  Would I be advised to leave it as-is or change it?


texts:
In their stories, originally published in the eighteenth century, the Brothers Grimm have embraced a number of themes that have never vanished from life, despite modern advances in science and technology.

I got this question right by removing the have. My reasoning was because we know the time in the past that this happened.

Since I just want to make sure, is there any other reason why the have is incorrect?

Thanks.


texts: Is a man a consort of a queen, or to a queen?

texts:
Consort of, or to?
Would we say "the Consort of Queen Elizabeth" or "the Consort to Queen Elizabeth"?


texts: Gender-neutral nouns that are mostly applied to persons of a particular gender?

texts:
Kindly do not start a gender debate based on this question, but I am looking for words that are by definition gender-neutral, but (unlike 'actor' and 'nurse') are used to refer almost exclusively to persons of one gender.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary has been careful to define the following noun examples as 'a person who..., etc' and not as 'a man...' or 'a woman...'  which leads me to consider them at least by definition gender-neutral nouns, though two of them appear to formally/formerly indicate gender, and a third (which is notorious) has a gender-specific equivalent:

  Definition of watchman:
    a person who keeps watch : (syn) guard

  Definition of midwife
  [1] a person who assists women in childbirth
  [2] one that helps to produce or bring forth something (help somebody to successfully complete some project, I assume, example: I am most indebted to my editor John, the midwife who delivered me of this most ambitious novel, etc.)

  Definition of pimp: a criminal who is associated with, usually exerts control over, and lives off the earnings of one or more prostitutes
  (The female equivalent word with a very similar meaning is procuress, though its gender-neutral form is procurer)

  Definition of janitor: one who keeps the premises of a building (such as an apartment or office) clean, tends the heating system, and makes minor repairs.

I am taking these only as random examples of gender-neutral nouns, of which I have heard watchman applied almost exclusively to men and midwife applied only to women. SIMILARLY, I have seen the word pimp applied only to men in my wide reading, and women who did something similar were often referred to as 'procuress'. I have myself heard 'janitor' used mainly for men, though I am sure there are many women janitors all over the world.

Other words such as washerman, policeman, seamstress and actress would be obviously gender-specific by structure, and probably applied only to persons of one gender, whereas words like 'actor' and 'nurse' which were previously used exclusively for men and women respectively have expanded to include all genders.

Unfortunately my imagination ends there.

So can you suggest any words in the modern language that are by structure and definition gender-neutral, but used to refer almost exclusively to people of one gender? Please note that these criteria will exclude words ending in -man (such as fisherman, chairman, fireman) because they are structurally gender-specific, even if they may be currently defined in a gender-neutral manner.

Note 2: is there any word that ends in -ess and formerly denoted women alone, which now refers to people of all genders?

Gender-related fact: are you friends at EL& U aware that non-Czech women's surnames are suffixed -ova in order to be made 'grammatically correct' in the Czech language?

EXAMPLES:

https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkelová

https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serena_Williamsová

AND in Slovak language as well!

https://sk.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sania_Mirzová

(I am sure you know this, linguists and serious language enthusiasts that you are, but it is still something extraordinary, IMHO)


texts: Using pronoun "it" instead of (personal) pronouns "her" or "him"

texts:
Can pronoun "it" be used instead of (personal) pronouns "her" or "him" in a disparaging/derogative manner especially in the personal pronouns?

I've watched a movie wherein a dead body was found and, without saying anything, they've been told just to "burn it!". I know this could have been strictly referring to "a body" — a neutral noun. However, the "burn it!" was said in a really disparaging manner.

And let's suppose that the man who said it knew the man who was killed. Still, can we use "it" instead of "her" or "him" in that manner emphasising the hate and scorn towards a particular person?


texts:
I already know that " no caption needed" is correct but why?
Needed is adjective and I think it should be before the noun
Please explain


texts: How come the Latin word "Vulgaris" acquired such negative meaning in English?

texts:
Today, while reading Dan Brown's latest novel Inferno, I came to know that vulgar is actually derived from the Latin word vulgaris, literally meaning "of/pertaining to common people".

I really don't understand how come that got translated to mean offensive to standards of decency in English? Did the common folks exhibited indecent behavior in the Medieval times?


texts:
First of all sorry for not asking a technical question.

Actually I need to know the best English grammar book in terms of completeness and depth of every topic.

Any help would be appreciated.


texts: Is 'Jap' still considered an ethnic slur?

texts: ~Seventy years after 'The War', is Jap still considered to be an ethnic slur in the US? Is/was it also considered offensive in the UK?


texts: Respective Use of "Respective" in English of German Speakers

texts:
Can anyone familiar with English use by German speakers explain the use of "respective" as in the list of examples below?

I see this frequently from German government bureaucrats and the like, and it baffles me.

Can it be mentally substituted with some more meaningful English word? Or it is just some type of linguistic tick transliterated from German that should simply be ignored?

  A respective reply is enclosed.

  Have you considered the respective suggestions?

  In the application, we must modify the respective
  wording.

  Enclosed is the respective email correspondence with that agency.

  Please send us a respective counterargument.

  Below is a respective proposal.

  The respective price for that service would be $1000.


texts: What are the scenarios where the meanings of these differ? What is the difference between their meanings and if any, why? I have observed that the term 'analyst' is specifically used in cases of humans. 'Analyser/analyzer' is used with humans and with others also, such as 'lexical analyzer' in computer science. Also when used with humans, 'analyzer' is used to describe some one's skills/ability (such as in resumes 'good analyzer' can be seen. Whereas the word 'analyst' is mostly seen in job descriptions. Can anyone help me understand the similarities and differences in these two?


texts: How to address one male and one female in an informal email?

texts:
In an inter-company (informal) email, when the addressees are one male and one female, I usually use Hi Guys. However, guy has a distinct male flavour.
Could you suggest a more gender-neutral addressing for the above?


texts: Conditional sentences - which is correct?

texts:
If I had bought insurance for the trip, I would have got a refund after I got sick and had to cancel.

OR

If I had bought insurance for the trip, I would have got a refund after I had got sick and (had) had to cancel.

?


texts: Gerund: Difference between “knowledge” and “knowing”

texts:
In these days I find out something about The Gerunds and now i want to know what's The difference between these nouns “knowledge” and “knowing”? And which one on is Gerund?

Clearing: in my language or French language your Gerund become the Name of infinitive for example The name of infinitive of "To know" is "Knowledge" and when I search for translate of "Knowing" Translate the same thing of Infinitive, I want to know which one of them is Gerund? Knowledge or Knowing, if knowledge is Gerund what is Knowing?

Thank you.


texts: I want to say :"Identifying influences in different categories is interesting for companies". By "influences" I mean people, who have influence in some categories. Should I use "influences" or "influencers"?


texts: politically correct term for "poor man's ___"

texts: I used the term "poor man's ____" to talk about a less expensive but less useful alternative. One of my colleagues called me out that some people might find it offensive. Is there another term I could use instead?


texts: What does a "man of leisure" do exactly? What is the definition and the connotation?

texts:
I watched the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit some weeks ago, and have happily remembered a question I had forgotten from it just now.  In this dialogue, Mr. Clennam, a dashing and rich gentleman, asks Frederick Dorrit — whose brother is the principal character William Dorrit, and whose lamentable tale of being locked up in Marshalsea Prison for his debts forms the basis of the entire story — about his fortunes.  As Frederick Dorrit was once guarantor to his brother's debts, his fortunes have been laid very low, and he recalls the story of his past life (paraphrasing):

  Things were not always the way they are now.  I was once a  man of leisure.  I ran a boarding school for young girls...

My question is: What exactly does it mean to be a "man of leisure"? Mr. Frederick Dorrit doesn't sound to me particularly upper-class, from his job description as a proprietor, yet he applies a very gentlemanly sounding appellation to himself.  I'm thinking maybe the phrase has a more nuanced meaning than merely "free from work."  Can anyone help me figure that meaning, with it associated connotations, out?


texts: What part of speech is the word "sleep?"

texts:
What part of speech is the word "sleep" in this sentence?

  You should have eight hours of sleep each night.


texts: Can an adjective clause modify an adverb clause?

texts:
I have read this sentence and got slightly confused.

When my mother, who was only 18 when she had me, told me I should wait until I got older to marry Lucy, I knew she was really happy I met the right person.
— Adam from engvid.com via Wikipedia Republished

In this sentence when my mother is an adverb clause and who was only 18 she had me is an adjective clause.
I know an adverb can modify an adjective, but not vice versa. I believe in this sentence that an adjective clause is modifying an adverb clause.
I am curious to know what this adverb clause is modifying.


texts: Meaning of expression "take contingency on someone"

texts:
What exactly does a phrase 'we need to take contingency on them' mean?
This is an expression I heard from a project manager so I presume it has to do smth with risk mitigation. However, I'd rather not guess. Thanks.


texts: Word for "running commentary while watching films or TV shows"?

texts:
How do I describe someone who comments continually while watching movies / reality shows / films etc.?

E.g. Opining about the behavior of someone on TV.


texts: Can "yesterdays" (plural) be used to denote a range of past days?

texts:
So I just learned that "yesterdays" is a word (without the apostrophe). It is the plural of "yesterday".

The trouble is, what does plural of "yesterday" really mean? I could not find any example sentences in the dictionaries. Does it mean multiple instances of the previous day (which I'm having a hard time understanding as a real life thing), or does it mean a range of past days (not just yesterday, but two days ago and three, or more)? Does it have both meanings like so many other words?

Here's the example paragraph I found myself writing and questioning (I dumbed it down for brevity):

  The evil army invaded City A only to find it abandoned, but they nonetheless imported their weapons and material as a base for the next move. In a similar vein, City B had been evacuated yesterdays and imported today.

What I want it to mean is "a range of past days, starting at least two days ago and ending no later than yesterday-proper." That is, the city was not evacuated in one day (impossibly too brief for a large city), but rather over multiple days in the past (before the army arrived).

Am I using the word validly?


texts: "Mouth-breathing" as slang for stupidity

texts:
This was used in the US TV series Stranger Things (S01E03, 2016):

I was tripped by this mouth breather, Troy, okay?
Mouth breather?
Yeah, you know a dumb person.
A knucklehead.

(Stranger Things S01 was set in 1983, but may or may not be historically accurate with regard to this piece of slang.)
I have two questions:

Roughly when and where did this slang start being used? (I assume this slang originated from the perceived inferiority of mouth breathing as compared to nose breathing.)
Are there specific regions of the US or world where this slang is commonly used? (It is my impression that only some Americans use this slang at all. And even in the US it does not seem to be widespread.)

Edit: On Google Books, one can find instances of the phrase "mouth breather" or "mouth breathing" in the 19th century. These are usually in the medical/dental context.
From Popular Science Monthly (Dec 1892):

From the condition of a "mouth-breather" it is but a short step to one of two results—more often both: deafness, and that peculiarly stupid, sleepy, inane, foolish expression of countenance so characteristic of the "mouth-breather".

From Adenoid Vegetations of the Naso-pharynx (1892, p. 3):

The action of these distorted muscles upon the soft and pliable bone of the child's face, together with the absence of admission of air to the accessory nasal cavities,—the frontal, sphenoidal, ethmoidal, and maxillaries,—causes a deficient development of these sinuses, giving a flat appearance to the cheek-bones, producing a peculiar physiognomy characterized by the open mouth, vacant stare, and almost idiotic expression of countenance. The hanging lower jaw and constant mouth-breathing, together with deficient development of the bones constituting the nasal septum and with augmented atmospheric pressure upon the roof of the mouth, cause a high-arched hard palate. ...
Dr. Casselberry, of Chicago, says, "Not only do these unfortunates look stupid, but they really are stupid, and exhibit abundant evidence of mental hebetude, with inability to fix the attention to learn, to memorize, or to reason, the whole evidencing an impairment of cerebral function which Dr. Guve. of Amsterdam has recently described under the name of 'aprosexia nasales' ...

Another 1889 publication:

Mouth-breathing of many years changes the aspect of the face. The open mouth, the protruding teeth of the upper maxilla, the disappearance of the naso-labial folds give the face a stupid expression.

Of course, these quotes taken from more scientific/medical contexts do not directly address my questions above on when/where this slang began to be used or remains in common use.


texts:
I was talking with a native English speaker saying "The Eurozone is harshly suffering as well." He reminded me that "harshly suffering" sounds odd, which he cannot explain, and I should say "The Eurozone is suffering harshly as well."

I googled it and as he said 'harshly suffer' does not show whereas 'suffer harshly' comes up.

Can anyone please explain about this? Thanks in advance:)


texts: "She's not been_____" or "She hasn't been_____"

texts:
Using the british-english tag because I'm wondering if it is commonly said this way or accepted as correct in the UK

Is it grammatically correct to say, for example, "She's not been happy" instead of "She hasn't been happy"? Aren't they both ways of saying "She has not been happy"? I asked my mother and she seemed to think "She's not been____" is incorrect.


texts: Atheist/agnostic form of expressing condolences

texts:
I have lived in the U.S. 20 years now but I am yet to find an elegant and eloquent wording to express condolences to somebody upon the death of a close one that does not involve religiosity and prayer ("Your family will be in my prayers").

My native language is Bosnian (Serbocroatian) and we simply say "accept my condolences".

Can you offer some examples of similar elegant, eloquent, and SECULAR wording in English that does not imply God, prayers, religion, heaven, etc.?


texts: When did the conjunction "for" become old-fashioned?

texts:
I am not going to school today, for I am sick.

When did "for" become old-fashioned? Is it still used in everyday conversation?


texts: Grammatical correctness of a sentence from 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

texts:
Whilst reading To Kill A Mockingbird I came upon this sentence (full extract below):

  It is better to say, built in spite of them.

To me, this sentence seems poorly structured, possibly even incorrect grammatically. I wouldn't have thought that a comma should be used where it is. I would've thought it'd be more appropriate to use a colon and perhaps even quotes around the correction.

I consulted someone I knew who said that they thought the sentence was perfectly fine as it was.

I have thought that it might have been written in this way so as to give the impression of Scout herself saying it but I am unsure.

Any opinions on the validity of this sentence will be very helpful, thanks!

The same sentence, as it appears in its original context, is as follows:

  The Maycomb County courthouse was faintly reminiscent of Arlington in one respect: the concrete pillars supporting its south roof were too heavy for their light burden. The pillars were all that remained standing when the original courthouse burned in 1856. Another courthouse was built around them. It is better to say, built in spite of them. But for the south porch, the Maycomb County courthouse was early Victorian, presenting an unoffensive vista when seen from the north. From the other side, however, Greek revival columns clashed with a big nineteenth-century clock tower housing a rusty unreliable instrument, a view indicating a people determined to preserve every physical scrap of the past.


texts: I'm pretty sure "Commander Shepard" is preferable to "commander Shepard," but I'm less sure about "the Commander" vs "the commander."  On one hand, I'm pretty sure "commander" is a common noun in this usage, and I certainly wouldn't write "a Commander."  But on the other, capitalizing it in this instance feels righter to my native ear.  I'm starting to think this is like the serial comma (i.e. pick a style and be consistent), but if there is a real rule, I'd like to follow it.


texts: I came across 'resemblance' spelled as 'resemblence' in a set of Proficiency tests printed by Cambridge University Press. Since this spelling was kind of an eyesore, I looked it up and never found any other spelling that the one I am familiar with - that is, with -ANCE. Is this a typo?


texts: (Inanimate) Nouns being used in a personal sense

texts: Is there a word to describe when a noun is treated as a person, usually in marketing prose, e.g. "iPhone is capable of..." (rather than "the iPhone is capable of...")?


texts: What is the difference between "every" and "every single" ("every last")?

texts:
For example, someone might say "That happens to me every single time I go there," when they could say "That happens to me every time I go there."  Is it just a way of emphasizing the word "every"?

When spoken with anger or frustration, the first syllables are emphasized. It can be spoken as "ev'ery sing'le time" in a syncopated rhythm, like pounding a table with a fist.

But does the word "single" carry any extra meaning, or is it just a way of underlining "every" (and "single" is redundant)?

Edit: The same question goes for "every last", even though it isn't as rhythmic.  Thanks to V.V. for finding this similar idiom.


texts: Where does the phrase "fit to be tied" come from? Has its meaning become diluted?

texts:
While looking into an answer for "Sick and tied" and "sick and tired", I stumbled across the idiom fit to be tied which according to thefreedictionary means angry and agitated. (As if needing to be restrained.)

A second search turned up that this refers to the practice of bounding uncontrollable, dangerous people into strait-jackets.  How did we make the leap from crazy and uncontrollable to the general usage today of ticked off?  Or is my understanding of general usage today incorrect?  Is it common for these phrases to become so watered-down over time?


texts: Making sense of a sentence in a politcal economy article

texts:
Reading this critical geopolitical economic article, I found myself troubled understanding this sentence:

"Markets have priced in nothing bad from here to as far as the eye can see."

Here's the greater context:

  Here is how I see all of this, the pot is boiling and the warring
  factions are making stands, everywhere.  When I say “warring
  factions”, I am talking about everything from hawks and doves in the
  military and in the financial markets to as grand as the East versus
  the West.  So many people have been conditioned that the can will
  always get kicked down the road and nothing bad will ever be allowed
  to happen.  I disagree.  There are just too many flash points in
  multiple areas for this to continue.  Markets have priced in nothing
  bad from here to as far as the eye can see.  Compensation for “risk”
  does not exist anywhere.

I'm not sure whether "price in" is used as a phrasal verb -- as meaning the opposite of "priced out" -- or what. The rest of the sentence is also hard to make sense, maybe because I can't relate it to the context. Helps appreciated.


texts:
I proposed a programming puzzle, where the question is to generate gramatically correct sentence with the shortest program (see: [https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/78138/linguistic-code-golf][1]).

One suggested solution was "Hello, World!", this is an standard output at a special language where no code is written.

My question is:
Can "Hello, World!" be rated as a correct English sentence? My feeling is, that it is not, because there is no verb in it. But since I'm not clear what is the correct definition of a sentence, I want to raise the question to the linguistic experts here.

Edit:

Based on the feedback I got here, there are several different possiblities on how to define a sentence. This was a bit of a suprise to me. Since the answer to this question seems to be opinion based. I suggest to close this question.


texts: Acceptability of the Phrase "Unusually Common"

texts:
Does the phrase "unusually common" actually make sense?

It's frequently used to imply something along the lines of, "It happens more than one would expect; it's common but you wouldn't think that it is." An example might be, "Contrary to popular belief, it is unusually common for pets to be allergic to their human owners."

But when you take a moment to analyze the lexical definition of the word "unusual", we find

  not usual, [not] common, or [not] ordinary; uncommon in amount or degree; exceptional:

Putting the two together in a more literal fashion, it seems that "unusually common" translates to "not usually common", "not common common", or "not ordinarily common"; all three of which are the opposite of what the phrase itself is intended to mean. It seems like one of those phrases, similar to "I could care less", where there is an implied meaning that doesn't match the structure of the words.


texts:
1.'How I wish I had a dog!
2. I wish I had a dog.
I came across sentence 2 as the declarative form of sentence 1.
As Sentence 2 has the word 'wish' I was wondering should it be an imperative sentence? If so then what should be the declarative form?


texts: What word means to work yourself into redundancy?

texts:
I heard a word recently and totally forgot it. It means to work towards rendering yourself unnecessary. Something tells me it starts with an A.

Please help,...my brain is going crazy :-)


texts: How and why is "an internationalist Englishman" different from "an English internationalist"?

texts:
There is the following passage in Benn Steil’s “The Battle of Bretton Woods.”

  (John Maynard) Keynes was more an internationalist Englishman than an
  Englsih internationalist. Therefore it was not surprising that
  “Keynes’s advice,” in the words of his great contemporary Joseph
  Schumpeter, “was in the first instance always English advice, born of
  English problems” – Chapter 6. The best laid plans. page 140.

I assume that Keynes was an internationalist who attached more importance to, or prioritized British interest in drafting his post-war international currency plans than being a neutral, or cosmopolitan economist as well as British economic policy advisor from this context, but am not sure.

How and why is an internationalist Englishman different from an English internationalist, the difference of which comes from just reversing the order of the words ?


texts: Is the sentence "I didn't do it for you" ambiguous?

texts:
I feel the sentence "I didn't do it for you" can have 2 different, almost opposite interpretations.

I didn't do it, and that's for you.
I did it, but for others, not for you.

Is that true? If not, which interperation is correct?

Thank you!


texts: If someone gives you a notification, like you have to do something, or you have to go out and get some thing, and you say "ok". What are you doing? Would 'acknowledge' be the proper word to describe your action?


texts: Is there a saying or a quote, when something good happen thanks to something bad ? Like you meet someone because you've lost someone else ?


texts:
From my dim and distant youth, I seem to remember that the exclamation 'ugh' was generally pronounced 'ooh'.  I was raised in the Stockport area of the UK, and wonder whether this would have been a regional variant, or whether I am, indeed completely wrong (wouldn't be the first time!)  All of the sources I have located recently suggest that 'uggh' is the general pronunciation.  Need to get it right for my grandchildren . . . Nowadays I often encounter 'ew' in modern literature  as a term of disgust, which spelling I do not recall from years gone by.
 "That wine tastes horrible! Ugh!"


texts: What is the usage difference between dilemma and quandary

texts:
Between dilemma and quandary, what are the various denotations and connotations.

A dilemma is a difficult choice, not just any difficulty or problem.

The dictionaries put them as synonyms.

I'm in a quandary about whether I should try to repair my stereo or buy a new one
I don't know what to do; it's a real dilemma.

If you're at the mall choosing between red, green or blue socks, it is dilemma or quandary.

It's so confusing.


texts: Should I use a comma or semicolon to separate the items in this sentence

texts:
We have planned to modify the product mobile phone and address the following sustainable development goals: Responsible Consumption and Production, Good Health and Well Being.

or

We have planned to modify the product mobile phone and address the following sustainable development goals: Responsible Consumption and Production; Good Health and Well Being.

Which one of the above is correct?


texts: Differences between servant, maid, page, and attendant

texts:
In an airplane, the lady attending you is known as the attendant, besides sometimes being called  a stewardess or  air hostess. What does she do? Just serve you.

Then what is that my maid does? Nothing but serve me. Can I therefore call my maid, my attendant?

What about my other servant? Can I call him my attendant too, since I cannot call a male person my maid?

Is gender the only difference?  Then who and what are pages?

I am looking for a clear distinction between these four terms.


texts: What is the correct expression: "the estimate number" or "the estimated number?"

texts:
I have been looking for a place that tells me which expression is correct, but I didn't get any satisfactory answer.

Google returns 2,060,000 results for "the estimate number of *", and 73,200,000 results for "the estimated number of *", but there are websites I would consider reliable in the first page of both searches.

What is the correct way to write that expession?


texts: Synonym suggestion for 'supreme' and 'quintessence'

texts:
The sentence to be used:
From humble beginnings to supreme leader of the army, Major General Deakin Field is the quintessence of an ordinary person who can achieve extraordinary things.
What I'm struggling with:
supreme - the word sounds a bit too totalitarian and I was wondering if there was a better word for a high ranking, well-respected and loyal leader.
quintessence - I think this is the right sort of word to use, but I just wanted to check. I am wanting to use it to describe a person who is a 'prime example' of something. Almost an embodiment.
Suggestions appreciated.


texts: What's the name of this praying type sitting posture? May be sad.


texts: Word order, e.g. in "Hotel California", "Brothers Quay"

texts: This is a question about the order of words when a common name is associated to a proper name. Does it matter to say "California Hotel" rather than "Hotel California"? Similarly, there are two filmmaker brothers usually referred to as "the brothers Quay", which seems less common than "the Coen brothers". As a non-native English speaker, I'm interested to know is there's any difference, and which form is more natural or correct.


texts: Should I write: "areas becoming denser" or "more dense"?

texts:
I am trying to describe how cities have been affected by the growing population in terms of the density of bodies.

This is how I have it at the moment but I am unsure whether it should be "more dense", or "denser"

  With the global human population increasing and areas becoming more
  dense

or

  With the global human population increasing and areas becoming denser

Which would be correct?


texts: Can I say "wonder of" instead of "wonder about"?

texts:
This is certainly non-idiomatic, and it is strange. If I am lucky, I think I might get away with something like this by profoundly abusing the syntax of the language, but I cannot do it alone.

I halfheartedly claim that "wonder of" means something different that "wonder about".

"I wonder of emotions" vs "I wonder about emotions".

Perhaps to wonder about in this case suggests thoughts about specific emotions, happiness, sadness, etc., whereas to wonder of suggests purely abstract thoughts of emotion.

I think about the meaning of the word "of". It is an interesting mental exercise. Borrowing from Merriam Webster we have the following interesting case.

  Definition 7: a function word to indicate something from which a person or thing is delivered

ex: eased of her pain
ex: robbed of all their belongings

When she is eased of her pain, her pain is that from which she is delivered (by the easing). When he is robbed, all of his possessions are that which he is delivered from (or perhaps taken from). Am I applying this correctly?

I further submit, if I had wondered of emotions, that would indicate emotions were that which I was delivered from by the wonderment.

My Questions

Would you point out flaws in my reasoning above?

What determines which verbs may be used with "of"?

Is there hope for me to use "wonder of" or "wondered of"?


texts: In the following sentence, shouldn't "family" take its plural form?

texts:
Here is an excerpt from IELTS OG.:

  For example, when my cousins were backpacking around the world, they were able to reassure their family and friends that....

I find the use of family in its singular form very strange, because obviously the author was talking about more than one family, since cousins have at least two families.

I suspect this has something to do with family being a collective noun, but I don’t think it is a good justification. It isn’t wrong to say one family, two families, is it?


texts: I made up the word, "performant". Has it occurred in the English language?

texts:
By performant, I mean something that performs well. A piece of computer program code could be performant, meaning that enough thought went into it to make it perform well, making it an adjective; likewise, a merchant banker could be performant, meaning his performance record monetarily is in good stature.

A close cousin would be abundant (from abundance).

If you describe an athlete, you're allowed to say he's fast without having to compare to any competing athlete. In the same way, it should be possible to say a person is performant - whatever his field of endeavor.

Or, indeed, his or her works, without the person involved.

The works of an artist, writer, or musician might be pleasant, from pleasance. Isn't it a fact that some professions simply measure works by performance?

Twice removed from a person, a product could be performant in a market, meaning it performs well in sales, due to any reason, not exclusively its qualities.

It seems clear that efficient is not a complete synonym, although I would accede it for describing a piece of computer program code's performance.

Has it occurred in the English language, or are there existing words similar in meaning to what I described that I can use instead?


texts: Restrictive relative clause or non-restrictive relative clause?

texts:
I am wondering whether to use a restrictive relative clause such as:

"Multicopters belong to a family of aircraft called rotorcraft , which also includes helicopters, and although they appear to be similar, a multicopter's design is mechanically much simpler."

or non-restrictive relative clause:

"Multicopters belong to a family of aircraft called rotorcraft that also includes helicopters, and although they appear to be similar, a multicopter's design is mechanically much simpler."

I am leaning toward the latter because the second half of the complete sentence relies on the inclusion of the statement "also includes helicopters" for its meaning.  However, the first part of the sentence ("multicopters belong to a family of rotorcraft") makes sense by itself (i.e. it could be a complete sentence), and the second part of the sentence is really another statement attached with "and".  So I'm not sure.

Would it be better as two separate sentences:

"Multicopters belong to a family of aircraft called rotorcraft, which also includes helicopters; although they appear to be similar, a multicopter's design is mechanically much simpler."

Side-note:  Now I'm going crazy, wondering whether it should be "include" or "includes".  This is why it takes me so long to write anything. sigh


texts: Can Someone Tell me if This Sentence is a Pun?

texts:
My friend and I are walking along a nude beach. There is an exposed man directly in front of us.  My friend asks me what time it is. My response is "It's 12 o'cock."

Pun or bad joke?


texts: What part of speech is "that" in each of the following sentences that mean the same?

texts:
It was all planned well before today that I can be sure about.

Here I believe that that is subordinating conjunction.

  It was all planned well before today; I can be sure about that.

Here I believe that that is pronoun, hence the need for the semicolon to separate the two coordinating clauses.

And are they both right? Please correct me if I am wrong.


texts:
I am wondering if I can use the em dash with a quote. If I can use them, I am curious of whether it would mean that the writer is telling the audience that information, or if it means that the person speaking had said the entire sentence, yet the transcriber added the em dashes in order for the sentence to appear grammatically correct to the reader.
Can I use them in a quote? And if so, can I use them to show what the speaker said? Or do they only imply that the author is commenting or supplying new information?

"We ended up going to Red Robin — the only restaurant still open at that time — to get some food."

"We ended up going to Red Robin, the only restaurant still open at that time, to get some food."


texts: "It could/might/may be funny" — what is the correct usage?

texts:
What is the difference in meaning  in these three sentences?

  it might be funny
  it could be funny
  it may be funny

The answer was partially touched on in this post.


texts: Etymology of English "Achoo" relative to other sneezing onomatopoeiae

texts:
So I was recently curious about the sound that people sneeze with in other languages and was surprised to notice the difference between the English onomatopoetic word "Achoo" and that of other languages in the same family. For example:
German - hatschi
Dutch - hatsjie
However some of our sibling languages are closer:
Icelandic - atsjú
Norwegian - aatsjoo
Interestingly, most of the world seems to pronounce their sneeze more like modern Germans than modern Americans (basically all of Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia will end their sneezes with a short i instead of a long o).
Does anyone have any ideas why the pronunciation differs between ending in a short i in many closely related languages and a long o in English? Presumably people talked and wrote about sneezing relatively early on before these languages broke up so there should be some sort of proto-English pronunciation that either split during a period when most of these branches hadn't extended far, or English changed its common representation of the sneeze at some point in history. Does anyone know of a time in English's history when our sneezes ended in 'i' or a time in German/Dutch history when the 'oo' was favored?
Note that the OED traces the word back to the early 19th century, always spelled ending in the 'oo' sound and not a short 'i':

Forms:  α. 18–19 aitchoo, 18– achew, 18– achoo, 18– ahchew, 19
ahschoo, 19 ahshoo, 19– ahchoo, 19– atchoo, 20– aitshoo.
β. 19 achoos.


texts: Adjective for something that is no cause for concern

texts:
I am looking for an adjective to describe something that does not incite worry, fear, anger, or any other negative emotion. It is no cause for concern of any kind.

Preferably it would be a word or phrase that does not contain a negation and relatively short in length. Obscure words are welcome.


texts:
Which of the following is correct?
"I agree that it will be just me and you managing the projects."
or
"I agree that it will be just I and you managing the projects."


texts: What was “social distancing’ called during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic?

texts:
It is being said that a too  early relaxation of national and local  ‘social distancing’ guidelines for the recent Covid-19 pandemic  might result in  an uptick  of new cases or even  re-infections in the Fall of 2020, and this possibility is being been compared to what happened during the Spanish Flu epidemic, when…

   ...people stopped distancing too early, leading to a second wave of infections that was deadlier than the first, epidemiologists say.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/health/spanish-flu-coronavirus-lessons-learned/index.html

According to Ngrams, and Google.books, the phrase ‘social distancing’ was used in its present context (i.e. distance maintained for sanitary purposes) for only the last couple of years, and prior to that considered to be a sociological term (indicating inter-personal issues) .

By 1919 , it was accepted as being the main reason for the resurgence of the flu  pandemic, mostly due to citizens enjoying a mis-guided expression of basic rights. However, I cannot find use of the phrase 'social distancing' from  that time.  Most of the literature refers to a "let's take off our masks and breathe freedom" type of thing.

So what was the expression used at that time to describe ‘social distancing’?

If it was accepted at that time as an accepted form of prevention, what phrase did they use to describe the concept of ‘social distancing’?


texts: What is the meaning of "Already wet, aren’t they? Little squirts!"?

texts:
“Peeves, get down here NOW!” barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.
“Not doing nothing!” cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. “Already wet, aren’t they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!” And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.
(p172, Harry Potter 4, US edition)

NB— Peeves is a mischievous ghost floating in the air.
I’ve lost track of the logical flow of ‘Already wet, aren’t they? Little squirts!’
There are some questions swirling in my mind: Who are they? Who is he talking to? What are little squirts (water bombs or children)?
I’d like to know the meaning and enjoy the lively atmosphere of the scene.
It’d be nice if you could help me!


texts: A question about former British currency

texts: Does "eight-and-sixpence" mean "eight shillings and six pence"?


texts:
I've been studying a text 1 — this community has been of immense help! — and again have hit a suspicious expression.

  These are dead, these fellows; they feel not. We are not for the poor and sad: the lords of the earth are our kinsfolk.
  Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of us.
  Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.

I became suspicious of "leaping laughter". OED has nothing on either "leaping" or "laughter". Searching Google, I've found other occurrences, where the expression seems to be a little more than the sum of its parts.

From Wagner's "The Niebelung's Ring", translated by Alfred Forman: 2

  Thy charm besets me
  and cheers my sight;
  in thy leaping laughter
  my heart delights!

From Aeschylus' "The Choëphoroe", translated by Gilbert Murray, p. 51: 3

  Oh, to us slaves she makes it pitiable
  And grievous, and keeps hid behind her eyes
  The leaping laughter. Aye, 'tis a rich prize
  For her, and for the House stark misery,
  This news the travellers tell so trippingly.

I have found other instances of the expression, either a little different in form, or too recent.

Does this expression have meaning beyond "leaping" + "laughter"?


texts: "Every man and his dog" feminine equivalent

texts:
Is there a feminine or female version of “every man and his dog”?

Every man and his dog were at the amusement park.

The original phrase sounds a bit sexist to me.


texts: About how many words of four letters are there in English?

texts:
I was trying to determine about how many words there are in English, with four letters.  (Ideally, excluding "s" plural, so cats and dogs would not be included.)

Does anyone have any concrete information on this such as an academic paper or perhaps some info from a dictionary or other reference I am unaware of?

(My investigation produced a number - I won't state it - which seemed wrong.)

Many fascinating related questions have come to mind: for example, "What's the most popular length of word in English?"  (You'd think we'd all intuitively know this as native speakers; I don't.)


texts:
Is it possible to have different tenses in the contrasting/comparative adverbial clauses and the main clause of the sentence OR do the verbs always have to be parallel according to parallelism?
ex: While primary school students used to sit on bulky chairs two decades ago, today students enjoy orthopedic chairs. [contrasting past versus present]
ex: Just like I am living with my parents now, I will be living with them 10 years from now. [comparing present with the future]


texts: What is a word for a taking a non-romantic relationship to the "next level"?

texts: I was thinking one day, and was trying to describe some of the latest events in my life. To my dismay, I could not think of any word to describe becoming better friends with someone (in a platonic way, not a romantic one). Is there such a word?


texts: How to end a sentence (if at all) with a preposition?

texts:
My first quarter of school included classes such as Biology, Chemistry, and Algebra, all of which I received an A in.
I am confused because i thought you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition. This is for a very formal letter so proper grammar is very important.
If not, how can i rework this sentence?


texts: What did Samuel Johnson mean when he wrote this?

texts:
I do not in particular understand the use of the word "but" in the last sentence:

  Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applauses which he cannot keep; so that scarcely can two persons meet, but one is offended or diverted by the ostentation of the other. - Samuel Johnson

What is the meaning of the word "but" in this context? Is Johnson stating that because people attempt to be what they cannot be, whenever they interact, one annoys another in the process of attempting to display these qualities?


texts: Correct word for pressing a button down without pressing up?

texts:
I'm making a game and I am doing the tutorial part of the game now. One of the buttons needs to be pressed down but should not be pressed up so that there is higher rewards. What is the correct word for "pressed down but should not be pressed up"?
I am thinking "hold down button"? Is that a correct word? Is that an internationally acceptable term?


texts: What is the difference between " I love you" and "I am not in love with you"

texts: When someone says "I love you, but I'm not in love with you" are they really saying "I don't love you but I don't want to hurt your feelings"?


texts: 'Saw your speech' or 'heard your speech'?

texts: If I have just watched a speech, what is the most appropriate way of conveying this to the speaker? I just saw your speech, or I just heard your speech.


texts: Origin of 'cuz' as shortening for cousin?

texts: Detailed answer please and thank you. I see this used a lot among youth. I'm interested to know whether it originated in the Southern US or not?


texts: Is the word “shading” more related to “shadow” or “shade”?

texts:
I am interested in this more from a computer science perspective, but I figured this would be a better place to ask.

A sentence example would be,

  After applying shading the scene looks much more realistic.

Basically, how did the verb shading form?
What was the original noun for it?
And what does it mean outside computer science in English?


texts: the baby birds are growing [strong/strongly]

texts:
An American news article titled "N.J. aquarium welcomes 4 baby penguins, and yes they're insanely cute (PHOTOS)" starts like this:

Eggs have been a-crackin' at Camden's Adventure Aquarium, welcoming four tiny African penguins to the crowd-favorite exhibit, Penguin Island.
The new penguins were hatched in two separate clutches -- the first on Dec. 10 and 14, the second on Dec. 23 and 26.
Adventure Aquarium Curator of Birds and Animals Michele Pagel said the baby birds are very vocal, growing strong, and have great appetites.

Does the context mean that the baby birds are becoming strong?
If not, shouldn't it be "strongly" instead of "strong"?
EDIT
Alternatively, couldn't it have been "strongly" instead of "strong"?
If the writer had intended it to mean that the baby birds are growing quickly (not becoming strong), could he have said, "The baby birds are growing strongly"?


texts: what is the meaning of this---"could you have been dreaming"

texts:
what is the meaning of this sentence---``"

could you have been dreaming?


texts: Terminology of Verb Types in the present perfect such as (find vs break): found/have found it vs broke/have broken it

texts:
Usually there is a difference in meaning between the past simple and present perfect constructions.

However, in American English, found and have found do not exhibit much difference in the following scenario:
If you were looking for something and then just found it, you could say I found it or I have found it. The default choice is for found it though.

In contrast, the verb break, I guess, does not show the same behavior in a similar scenario like above. Broke a leg for example is just past, history while have broken a leg always means the effect on the leg is still present; still broken.

If not, Americans would always recognize a big difference in meaning with other verbs. The present construction and the simple past are not interchangeable in the scenario above. The difference between the two forms is not about emphasis on recency, but about past and present.

I once came across a terminology used to classify verbs in the present perfect but I do not have any recollection of that. At any rate, linguists must have terminology when they study verbs in the context of present perfect. What is the terminology?


texts: "President" is to "presidential" as "moderator" is to what?

texts:
What word, if any, best completes the analogy?

Example usage (feel free to fiddle with this context/setting as desired):

  Behavior was unbecoming of all participants in last night's prime-time [Presidential] debate.
  Neither candidate appeared presidential, nor did the moderator appear ___.

Edit to add second use, more meta:

  The US election season will soon include Presidential debates (that might be describable by the sentences above).  The English Language and Usage Stack Exchange is also holding an election for community moderators.  If candidates in that election were to have a debate, it would not be a Presidential debate but a ____ debate.

Also, "governor" is to "gubernatorial" in the same way as the other pairs in this analogy.


texts:
I know the verb is only used in formal language, but we're having a discussion on the use of it in the following sentence:

"The discharge of the cargo was commenced at 9 o'clock"

OR

"The discharge of the cargo commenced at 9 o'clock"

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!


texts:
One of the former student
  One of the former students

Which one is correct, and why? Can any one explain it clearly?


texts: Is "et al." used as a singular or plural subject?

texts:
When referring to multiple authors by using the name of the first author and "et al.", is it correct to grammatically treat this as one person or multiple persons?

  Gamma et al. are saying in their text...

vs.

  Gamma et al. is saying in his text...


texts: Something that is easy to learn, but rewarding to master

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase that expresses the idea that something can be done well at the beginner-level, but can also be extremely rewarding when someone reaches an expert level.

The concept being that someone's efforts can be rewarding and fruitful even if they have just begun to learn this task, but also has a great deal of expertise that experts can appreciate.

Two examples that I have are rather specific, but I'll include them to try to help establish context:

In the video game Team Fortress 2, the Soldier class is very easy to use as a beginner, because explosive splash damage and spam are easy to use without much skill.  But a more experienced player can use the Soldier's ability to rocket-jump to excel beyond almost any other class in the game, with incredibly high mobility and damage output compared to any other class.  A beginner can contribute, but an expert can become extremely powerful.

Likewise, the Cleric class in DnD 3.5 has the incredibly useful party ability to heal other players, making them invaluable even for very new players.  But they also have the ability to become one of the singluar most powerful classes in the game in the hands of an expert.

That is the type of quality I'm trying to find a word or phrase for - something that is easy to learn, but rewarding to master.


texts: What's the name for period of arrival ahead of time?

texts:
I need the antonym of delay - name of the period before early arrival/departure and the scheduled one.

A bus that arrives five minutes late has five minutes of delay.

A bus that departs five minutes ahead of schedule has 5 minutes of (what?)

Note, it's not about surplus when you have saved up extra five minutes, but about a violation of schedule, when you arrive to the stop on time and can only shake your fist at the bus vanishing in the distance.

Technical or scientific, formal terms are most welcome although common are acceptable too.


texts: What is the difference between 'next to' and 'by'?

texts:
There was a table by the window.
    / There was a table next to the window.

  They live by the lake. / They live next to the lake.

When should you use by and when next to? Why?


texts: What's a word/phrase like "compulsion" or "addiction" that is more about guilt than physiology or anxiety?

texts:
This question came about because there has been an drought in our area, which is resolved for now, and I am beginning to stop practicing some water-saving measures, but feel discomfort or guilt at no longer doing them. Example sentence:

  I know the drought is over, but I still have a(n) _______ to put a bucket in the shower, and use that water to flush the toilet.

"Compulsion" (Merriam-Webster) isn't quite right, because there's no strong desire to do the behavior, and no force compelling me to do so--it's more the feeling that the lack of doing the behavior causes.

"Addiction" (Merriam-Webster) is also not right, because there's no devotion or surrender to a habit known to be bad, and no physiological component.

"Urge" is not quite right either. I do have the a strong need or desire to have or do something (Merriam-Webster again), but "urge" misses the sense of guilt that occurs when I do not do the behavior.

This ELU Stack Exchange post has some good ideas, such as "fixation" and "absorption," but they all involve an aspect of attending to something to the exclusion of other things, which is not the case here.

Of course this may be one of those cases where I would like for there to be a word for something, but there is not, but if someone has a word or phrase to encompass this feeling, I would love to hear it.


texts:
I understand that both these sentences:

Not even I can help them now.
Even I can't help them now.

essentially mean the same thing. But are they really interchangeable? Can you use either in any context, situation, etc. Can you think of any reason or subtlety that would make you prefer one over the other? Is one more formal than the other?


texts: Word for someone who has been through a lot of hardship and is therefore not naïve

texts:
What is a word for someone who has experienced a lot of suffering and hardship (for example, having grown up in a chaotic family where they had to fight for survival), and as a result, is better able at detecting danger or negative intentions?

The reason I ask is because I want to describe the opposite of someone who is naive and sees the best in everyone, sometimes erroneously.


texts:
Is it correct to use a comma after as such? For example:-

  and as such, it is not possible to verify the claim.


texts: Is the term "hack" more positive or more negative?

texts:
What emotional association does the word hack have nowadays in the first place: negative or positive?

Is it more for doing something illegally or without permission?

Or for doing something in a quick, clumsy and inelegant, though functional and practically efficient way?

Or doing something in a very clever, non-obvious, admirable fashion?

I agree that context gives the exact meaning used, but I wonder what basic connotation the word has by itself for a native English speaker (not only for a software industry person).

Is it a "slang" word and should its usage be restricted?


texts: How to analyse the nominal group "the man employed by your company"?

texts: Does it involve the embedded clause "the man [who is employed by your company]" shortened through ellipsis? And if so, is there are rule for dropping the the verb "to be" when using the passive voice?


texts: Synonym for Happy Hour/Cocktails/Hors d'oeuvres

texts:
What's a good word that combines happy hour, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres? Inquiring for phasing in a wedding invitation.

  Following the ceremony, join us for ???? at 6pm.


texts:
I was reading this book that features a description of a shark:

  It had fins at its sides, a triangular fin that rose from its back, a raked, aerodynamic tail, and eyes that were small, black, and empty.

(Emphasis mine.)

Now, since "aero-" means "air", and this tail travels through water rather than air > 99% of the time, it strikes me that aerodynamic may not be the best way to describe it?

Another example:

  The submarine was beautifully built, with a smooth, aerodynamic
  design.

1. Is using "aerodynamic" here wrong, acceptable or good?

2. Is there a better word (or possibly phrase) used to describe it?


texts: What is the difference between "quicker" and "faster"?

texts:
What is the correct word to use here and why:

  I will get there  quicker [than you]

vs.

  I will get there faster [than you]

There must be similar adverbs for "slower".


texts:
Can anyone explain the difference between "at the time" vs "of the time"? For example:

This did not quite fit the prevailing architectural schools at the time it was designed.

This did not quite fit the prevailing architectural schools of the time.

Is it as simple as the following?

"at the time" + temporal reference (e.g., yesterday, tomorrow)
"of the time" Ø temporal reference (e.g., "it was the material of the time that had an impact...")


texts:
Can we use to after a past form of verb?
Example : I called to Rohini


texts:
Is plantingly an adverb form of plant? Can you give me a example sentence?

Edit: This use of plantingly came from the following quote:

  Firstly I [would like] to thank you for taking the time from your [busy] schedule to help we plantingly challenged.


texts: Which one is the correct (or more commonly used) form: "3-month retreat" or "3-months retreat"?  How about "3-day" vs. "3-days" and "3-week" vs. "3-weeks" in the same context? (This is retreat as in meditation retreat and for U.S. English.)


texts: How to use a gerund with 'my' in a sentence?

texts: I am trying to say, "this led to my working as a research assistant with ...". I think something's awry in this phrase. Am I right?


texts:
As far as I've been able to figure out, tense refers to a grammatical category corresponding to the semantic category 'time reference'. So far, so good. But then there is complete confusion. Some seem to say that we have only two tenses in English – the present and the past (or preterite), whereas others seem to say we have four – simple present, simple past/preterite, present perfect and past/preterite perfect – and then there are those who add future tense (will+plain form of the main verb), and those who also throw aspect in the mix, adding things such as past progressive etc as tenses. I have so many questions about this, but I think my main question right now is this:

What is the actual definition of tense – does it refer only to morphologically marked distinctions in time reference (in which case I suppose English would have two tenses only), or does it refer also to distinctions marked by means of auxiliaries (in which case there should be five (present, past, present perfect, past perfect, and future))? Any help understanding this would be much appreciated.


texts: What's the logical opposite to "onboarding"?

texts: When you have a lengthy process after hiring someone, you call that the "onboarding" process. Is the term "offboarding" correct for a lengthy end-of-contract process? Or what would that be called?


texts:
Difference between

1.Would be.
2.Would have to be.
3.Will be.
4.Will have to be.

I need a deep explanation with examples.


texts:
There is a song titled "Better Not Wake the Baby" by a band called The Decemberists. One of the lines in the song is as follows:

  Drown yourself in crocodile tears,

  Curse the god what made thee,

  Find a way for your banner years,

  But it better not wake the baby.

I'm curious about the use of "what" here. From my knowledge of English grammar, it seems as though the word should be "that"; however, I have come to understand that they are wont to using archaic, foreign, or obscure words and grammar, e.g. the use of the word "fey" (Scottish for "fated to die").


texts: I'm very confused of using that have/had

texts:
I just want to ask which is correct between the two sentences given.

You've found them.
Or
You'd found them.


texts: Can "would" be used twice in an English conditional sentence and still be grammatical?

texts:
I know how conditional if clause sentences work. I'm aware of the rules which I have to follow. However, I sometimes use would after would which of course is incorrect in terms of grammar.

Is there any example where you could use would after you had already used would in the first clause?

For instance:

  If I would be rich, I would definitely buy a car.

I know that it should be

  If I was/were rich, I would buy a car

But I am asking for an example where would after would would be appropriate.


texts: I write instructions for our assembly lines. Frequently, I need to call their attention to something that is not a step, but that they need to know. My usual way of doing this is to write, "Note: Do thus and so." This will be included with the steps, which are in a numbered list, although the note is indented and not numbered. Is my use of a colon here correct, or would another mark such as an em dash be more appropriate? Also, should the following word be upper- or lower-case? I would like to stagger them vertically, but I am limited on room.


texts:
I thought the word irritance was a word — but it isn’t one according to Google and my dictionary.

It sounds correct; what is the word I should use?

By irritance I mean something that’s being irritating, like a person kicking the back of your plane seat is an irritance.

After researching more, I’ve found the word I was looking for was nuisance.


texts: If I take a record and adjust its time to the past, I backdate it. Is there an equivalent term for adjusting its time to the future? Fordating?


texts: Is it better to write "the affected people" or "the people affected"?

texts:
Which (if any) is better:

We have spoken with the affected people.
We have spoken with the people affected.

Thanks in advance.


texts: Why do we structure dialogue/direct speech the way that we do?

texts:
I hate how we format dialogue. I believe convention has gotten too heavy and we need to think a little more about logic. That being said, my question, to be more specific, is asking about labels for sentences with dialogue.

Let's use this sentence for an example: Bob said, "I like steak."

Now, I have seen grammars look at the structure in a few different ways. For one, you could look at it as if the speech is a direct object following the reporting clause. However, the problem with that is that this would be the only case where the subject and verb are separated from the object with a comma.

Another way that you could look at it is in comparison to a comment clause. However, if you do that, then the reporting clause, "Bob said", would technically not be obligatory, and at times, this may be true, as we see dialogue existing all by itself. However, there are times when the reporting clause is obligatory to its fullest regard; "I like steak", Bob said, and then he picked up piece of meat.

So, what is it? What is the relationship between the speech and the reporting clause? Or, is structures featuring dialogue simply so engulfed within their own gradient that we simply have to recognize it as something independent?


texts:
If a:b=1:2,
which of the following would be correct?

a) The ratio of a and b is 1:2
b) The ratio of a to b is 1:2
c) The a to b ratio is 1:2.
d) The ratio of the two variables is 1:2
e) The ratio between the two variables is 1:2
f) The a:b ratio is 1:2.
g) The ratio of a and b is 0.5
h) The ratio of a to b is 0.5
i) The a to b ratio is 0.5.
j) The ratio of the two variables is 0.5
k) The ratio between the two variables is 0.5
l) The a:b ratio is 0.5.


texts: What does the verb 'school' mean in 'a racehorse schools in the paddock'?

texts:
A Bloodhorse article titled "Public Can Visit Maximum Security May 18 at Monmouth" starts with these sentences:

Maximum Security, whose popularity has soared since he was disqualified from first in the May 4 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), will make a public appearance for racing fans May 18 at Monmouth Park when he schools in the paddock.
The Jason Servis-trained colt will be brought to the paddock area with the horses for Saturday's fifth race at approximately 2:20 p.m. local time before being led around the walking ring.

FYI, Maximum Security is a famous racehorse.
What does the intransitive verb 'school' here mean?
I've consulted all the dictionaries that I can access, but couldn't find the right definition for this use.


texts:
Some of my British friends use the word 'tedious' to mean 'annoying.' A recent example:

  The museums in Oslo aren't open on Mondays. That's a bit tedious.

I'm a native American English speaker and unfamiliar with this usage. I looked it up and only found the definition I'm familiar with :

  Too long, slow, or dull; tiresome or monotonous

Is this a British variation on the definition that is known in the United Kingdom but that hasn't entered dictionaries yet?


texts:
How do I agree to:
I'm in no mood to do the dishes. - Neither am I. (meaning I'm not in the mood ...)
I'm in no mood to do the dishes. - So am I. (positive/not negated verb "am" hence So...)?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Why is The Mall (Westminster, London) pronounced like mawl?

A few friends and I are playing Monopoly and are having an argument over how to pronounce the property 'Pall Mall'. Is it pronounced as 'Pal Mal' or 'Paul Maul'?


texts:
I have a question related to an example sentence below. I always have slight doubt in interpreting sentences which have this kind of clauses being connected.

Consider this sentence:

  The book covers the fundamental building blocks of digital design across several levels of abstraction, from CMOS gates to hardware design languages.

Here, to which part of the first clause in the sentence is the second clause — "from CMOS gates to hardware design languages" — related?
I mean whether CMOS gates and hardware design languages are

fundamental building blocks of digital design, or
several levels of abstraction.


texts: What does 'Become a scarlet letter' mean for a Senator who took advantage of the ‘Tea Party’ wave in the mid-term election?

texts:
I came across a phrase, senators who become a scarlet letter, in an article of today’s Washington Post (Jan.29) titled "Tea Party Caucus holds first meeting without some who had embraced banner."
The sentence in question reads as follows:

  The Republican senators who rode the tea party wave to victory in the fall are now weighing whether that label will help them on Capitol Hill or become a scarlet letter.

I understand scarlet letter means the letter of A in red signifying adulterer, and it was used as figurative expression by all means. However in this case, I'm puzzled with whom (i.e. political group, faction, clique) do the Senators in question commit adultery, and who is their due (should-be) partner (husband or wife, i.e electral franchise or belonging clique)? Why can they be dabbed a scarlet letter? I read the whole article, but I couldn't figure its meaning out to the end. Can anybody explain?


texts: What does 'Something has got to give' mean?

texts: I have heard this many times, with variations like "something's gotta give", but what exactly does it mean?


texts:
what would be the correct usage and difference in meaning in the sentences below:

It is these small steps that let us ...

or

These are the small steps that let us ...


texts: Is "giving a f**k" a valid opposite of "not giving a f**k"?

texts:
When "I don't give a f..k" means "I don't care" does "I give a f..k" mean the opposite (which would be "I do care")?

Additionally, would the question "If they'd give a f..k" mean "If they'd care?" Would this be a valid question and generally understood?