texts: Trouble with translating (and specifying) foreign proper nouns into English

texts:
I'm translating a tourist guide book from Czech to English and it turns out I have yet to grasp some of the grammatical structures possible.

I want the English translation to be quite simple and clear because I'm sure that it will be read by more non-native speakers of English rather than native ones. My problem is that I would like to specify many proper nouns. The reason for this is that even if a person from Czech isn't familiar with a proper noun, he or she can usually tell whether it's a person or a thing or a city etc., but this doesn't work for foreigners. When specifying, I can think of multiple structures but I'm not sure how good/off they sound. Thank you for taking the time to consider these (made-up) examples! I'm aware that some of them do sound strange/are incorrect, but listing them all should help me get a grip of this. Thanks!

(1) We visited the city of Ostrava, the town of Frýdek-Místek and the village of Morávka.

(2) We visited the city Ostrava, the town Frýdek-Místek and the village Morávka.

(3) We visited Ostrava City, Frýdek-Místek Town and Morávka Village.

(4) We visited the Ostrava City, the Frýdek-Místek Town and the Morávka Village.

(1) Here you can find out how the sweet Marlenka honeycake is made.

(2) Here you can find out how the sweet Marlenka Honeycake is made.

(3) Here you can find out how the sweet honeycake Marlenka is made.

(1) On the way back, make sure to stop at the U Břízy pub.

(2) On the way back, make sure to stop at the pub U Břízy.

(3) On the way back, make sure to stop at the pub 'U Břízy'.

EDIT:

Thank you all for your answers. What do you think of this 'generalization'?

@Mitch says, "When 'pub' comes before, the name of the pub is sort of an explanation," and I think that this exactly is what I'm after. So it seems that this 'helping' noun works fine before the proper noun as in

(A1) I like the computer game Borůvka.
(A2) This place is ruled by the pagan god Vlasta.
(A3) You can try the local beer Rozmar.

since we talk about general (?) things, but it gets more complicated when talking about geographical places, maybe because e.g. towns never take articles (So one needs an idiomatic way around it, such as "the town of X" etc.). How about other names of places?

(B1) You can try swimming in the reservoir Plešno.
(B2) You can try swimming in the Plešno reservoir.
(B3) You can try swimming in Plešno reservoir.

(C1) Visit the Beskydy Mountains.
(C2) Visit the mountains Beskydy.

(D1) The highest peak is the Lysá Mountain.
(D2) The highest peak is Lysá Mountain.
(D3) The highest peak is the mountain Lysá.

And some miscellaneous words?

(E1) Accommodation is provided in the mountain hut Pepa.
(E2) Accommodation is provided in the Pepa mountain hut.

(F1) Climb the Petřín observation tower.
(F2) Climb the observation tower Petřín.


texts:
I found this on the page " word of the day; yom tov" on dictionary.com

"I know it's yom tov, I know he must be celebrating his own seder with his family."
(Irwin Wolfe, Goodbye Beaver Lake, 2001)

How is this different from comma splices? I think that comma alone is connecting two independent clauses.

Thanks for reading.


texts:
What is a one-word synonym for "to accept blame"?
For example:

By signing the Treaty of Versailles, Germany accepted blame for World War I.

The synonym should be similar to "to accept responsibility," but should have the negative connotation associated with "blame."
Edit: It should also insinuate reluctance on behalf of the acceptor.


texts: Want a cute word for "message showing requirements"

texts:
What will be the small & cute word for "A message to show your requirement or what you want"?

I want to use that in my website.


texts:
I saw Dragons' Den TV show one of dragons said

I'm going to walk [offer?] you half the money for ten percent no ratchet.

What's the no ratchet mean?

Here is the program link


texts:
After having watched British TV and movies for a while, I came across several accents I liked. But I'm not completely sure what they are, so I need your help :)

David Tennant as The 10th Doctor (skip to 0:39 if it doesn't for you).
When he speaks more calmly, he sounds almost RP to me, but when he's more agitated, I hear something else.
David Tennant in real life — (skip to 1:24) — sounds more Scottish (?) to me.
Charlie McDonnell. He sounds fairly "neutral" to me, but I doubt it's RP.

UPDATE: Dancrumb and ShreevatsaR provided information that apparently The Tenth Doctor speaks Estuary English. But to me it's a very confusing revelation.

I can't find similarities between his accent and that of other notable Estuary speakers, such as David Beckham, Nasser Hussain or Jamie Oliver.

The Tenth Doctor doesn't have:

glottal stops (he pronounces daughter as door-tsah, not as door.ah — sorry for the lame transcription)
intrusive R (either that or I just didn't notice)
L-vocalization (same comment as above)
A deeper "i" (that sounds almost like "oi" with Estuary speakers)

Overall, The Tenth Doctor sounds much more RP than the other Estuary speakers, and they, respectively, sound much more Cockney. I can't find a single Estuary speaker on the web that would sound like The Tenth Doctor.


texts: Comparing two people's cleverness at a particular age

texts:
I'm trying to present a comparison of Jake's and Eric's cleverness at the age of 18

Jake is 18 years old, and Eric is 32.

1)Jake is much cleverer at 18 than Eirc was when he was 18

2)Jake is much cleverer at 18 than Eric was at 18

3)Jake is much cleverer than Eric was at 18

Rephrasing the sentence doesn't clear up my confusion.

1)Eric, at 18, wasn't as clever as Jake is at 18.

2)Eric, at 18, wasn't as clever as Jake at 18

3)Eric wasn't as clever as Jake at 18

I would like to know whether all of them are grammatically correct or not. Do they all convey the same meaning?

Any help will be appreciated.


texts:
I am creating a survey about setting habits where the response is a selection from 0 - 5.

I labeled 5 as "Nailed it". I am looking for the opposite to label my 0. 0 basically means that the option was not done or practiced. I am looking for one or two words to mean "didn't do" or "Bombed it".

For example

Goal: Waking up before 7am every day this week -

0  -> would mean I didn't wake up before 7 any day of the week.

5  -> Would mean I woke up before 7 daily. (Nailed it!)

Here is the clarification some have asked:

I am creating a survey that people can use to evaluate themselves. One of the goals is to enable the person to correctly score how they performed. Nailed it captures the fact that the person performed completely as he/she wanted. The opposite could mean the person forgot or didn't bother to try or just didn't apply for that week (N/A).

This is for rating yourself on behavior after the fact. This is to evaluate if you performed to your expectation. You set the boundaries so 0-5 are a range and the person gets to decide what the ranges mean to him. But 5 is a total success and 0 the opposite.


texts:
After the therapy, eight children (43%) became able to crawl/move on their back.

Or should I use "on their backs"?

Singular because each child only has one back, or plural because we're dealing with eight backs?


texts: Can I use the idiom "in earnest" as follows: "I strongly believe that XX program will offer me the perfect chance for my specialisation in XX to begin in earnest.


texts:
Could you give an explanation why ANY is not used like this:

1) Is there any car in the street?
2) Is there any book on the table?

I know that it's OK to use A for such sentences.

3) Is there a car in the street?
4) Is there a book on the table?

Any and A do mean ONE, but there must be some difference between them. What is it?


texts:
I have been criticized for the following usage of to discard:

  Figure 7 shows [...]. It is striking to observe that [surprising fact]. However, [tempering the previous fact]. Thus, Figure 7 clearly discards the possibility that [impossible hypothesis].

The comment is "A figure does not discard, it can only visualise something".

It would be easy to reformulate (e.g. "From these observations, we can clearly discard"), but I wonder if this particular usage is correct or not, and if it sounds odd. In the last sentence, I understand "Figure 7" as a shortcut or metonymy of the whole associated reasoning.


texts: Is calling a white person "white bread" considered racist in everyday conversation?

texts:
I have just watched "Top Five" played by Chris Rock. In this movie, there is a scene where Chris Rock saw a white actor and here is the conversation:

  The actor (played by white male actor): Hey, Alfred Alen

  Alfred Alen (played by Chris Rock): Hey, white bread, happy birthday!

That is in the movie, but  is calling a white person "white bread" considered racist in everyday conversation?


texts: is it appropriate to use "quinquennial" in academic writing?

texts:
I'm conflicted about the trade off between accessibility and conciseness when deciding whether or not to use "quinquennial" in an article for an academic journal. Is it advisable to use another word to avoid sounding pretentious?

My use case is the description of survey periods - there is an annual survey and a quinquennial survey.


texts: "come/spring to mind" or "come/spring to your mind"?

texts:
Which one is proper English:

Come/spring to mind
Or
Come/spring to your mind?

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English clearly states that possessive adjectives should not be used.


texts: What is a word or phrase to describe someone who works shabbily so others will do his / her work?

texts:
Imagine someone who intentionally contributes work of such low quality and/or so slowly that their peers cannot help but to do this person's work so it is done correctly.  An individual who intentionally employs a strategy of sloppy work and/or delay as a means of getting others to do it.  What's a good word or phrase for best describing this person and the behavior / strategy?

Ideally, a single word, but a phrase would also be valuable, provided neither are vulgar.

Usage examples:

Fred, please stop being a/an________ because it is impacting team morale.
Sally is a/an ________ because she is intentionally working poorly knowing her colleagues' distaste for poor work quality compels them to do her job for her.  It's unfair she's getting a free ride.

Words considered but discarded:
slacker, slouch, deadbeat - too generic/non-specific about the specific strategy & behavior.  Fail to connote the intentional strategy of getting others to do one's job by producing poor quality work.

goldbrick - is more about making excuses for lack of working vs. this specific strategy seeking others to do one's work

production deviance - is intentional ineffectiveness but not for this specific strategy's intended outcome.


texts:
In this phrase:

  the migratory activity of white blood cells

is it possible to replaced the adjective migratory by the noun migration, which also serves as an adjective? Only one variant is correct or both? If both, do they have any difference in meaning?


texts:
I am not sure about what is right:

  I can start my career at an international company.

or

  I can start my career in an international company.

For me at sounds appropriate?


texts: Describing an object as having steampunk design elements

texts:
Consider this sentence from my novel:

  The steampunk-esque device was a gift.

The Google n-gram viewer shows no results for either "steampunkesque" or "steampunk-esque." However, when searching the web, I find websites that use both variations.

Is it correct or at least reasonable to write the sentence in that way? Is there a better formulation that maintains the original compactness?


texts:
I've recently come across the two sentences below:

  Lee is getting a lot of advertisement at the fashion show.

and

  The designer of Mai's dress will get a lot of good advertisement.

Are the two sentences correct? I'm specifically referring to the person's use of the word advertisement, where publicity might be more suitable.


texts: Is there a word for "without any reason" but a more formal one

texts:
A sample sentence would be:

  Why did you ban me without providing a reason?

Is there a single word to replace "without providing a reason" with? Indiscriminately is not an option for me.


texts:
"Breathing" that's right, that's the word I'm looking for. Obviously a computer doesn't breathe, but what does it do?

By this I mean, a computer, more specifically the system unit or a laptop. On a system unit or a laptop, there are openings that allow hot air that's produced by the heatsink/fan to be blown out of the machine in order to prevent overheating.

The other day I was looking at some Macbooks at the Apple store. Unlike other laptops, the Macbook virtually has no openings on any of its surfaces. So then I went and asked the saleperson on its mechanism in preventing overheating. When asking, it occured to me whether there's an actual word that describes this process/action, a verb that describes the act of sending heated air produced from the heatsink/fans inside the computer out through the openings on the surface of the laptop or system unit by the machine to prevent overheating. In other words, the laptop is not breathing, it's [ ? ]. How does the machine [ ? ].


texts: I need a word for feather-like. Pinnated doesn't fit, nor fern-like or anything I have thought of. I'd love something to use as in phocine for seal-like.


texts: Doing something you enjoy so often you get tired of it

texts:
I have this bad habit, where I listen to a song I recently found and really liked, then replay it a million times to the point where hearing it again doesn't really do anything for me anymore.

Is there a specific word for this? Doesn't need to be listening to music, could be any activity that brings you joy, but doesn't after you've done it a million times.


texts: Comma in "Before I go I will return the book"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  When do I use the comma?

  Before I go I will return the book.

Do we have to use a comma in the above sentence?


texts: What's the best way to use "either" on more than two options?

texts:
I've searched for whether "either" can be used in a context on which the possible options are made of more than two, and found the answer here over English Language Usage. It says that it is informal to use "either" on more than two options, but is used widely especially in oral communication.

However, he didn't mention that what is the best alternative to "either" in three or more options in formal context, and hence I posted this question here.

So, on the situation where there are multiple options possible, how should I express my sentence? For example, I want to know the alternative to this sentence:

I classify all pitches as either fastballs, breaking balls, or off-speed pitches.


texts:
Is it acceptable to say something along the lines of "this microphone is out of the 122 series" instead of "this microphone is from the 122 series" ?

I have a colleague who insists that using 'out of' in this way is British English. I have never heard it used like that before.

edit:
I asked him if he had any examples, and he said that if you type something to the effect of 'characters out of . . ." in Google, it will come up with many examples. Google suggests "characters out of the Lion King" right away, for instance, which would suggest this usage is popular.

Does it work for talking about products from a specific series though? (We are copy translators for the British market, which is why I'm even bothering to nit-pick)


texts:
From the very second paragraph of "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov:

  There were nearly twenty-five million inhabited planets in the Galaxy then, and not one but owed allegiance to the Empire whose seat was on Trantor.

I presume he means that they all owed allegiance to the Empire, but that phrasing sounds like he's saying the opposite.  I want to read it as if 'but' is the subject of the sentence meaning 'exception'.


texts: Reference request: interesting writing on the topic of descriptivism and prescriptivism?

texts:
It seems to me that descriptivism versus prescriptivism is a false dichotomy. On another stackexchange site, I was recently moved to interject, in a hot and heavy dispute over split infinitives: --

  Even someone who thinks prescriptivist grammar is fine can think that a certain instance of prescriptivist grammar is nonsense. Good prescriptivism consists of making the language more beautiful, rich, precise, and expressive by emulating what's best about the best writing -- which has nothing to do with obeying a 19th century grammar book that codified already-obsolete 16th-18th century usage. http://merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/to-boldly-split-infinitives

This sort of thing makes me want to write a manifesto, but we all know that manifesto-writing is a sin, right up there with adultery, kicking dogs, and writing "it's" for "its." It may also be a sin because reinventing the wheel is a sin.

Reference request: Can anyone point me to influential or well written discussions of this topic that would allow me to abstain from this sin? That is, I would like to see a fervent, fire-breathing Fidel Castro defense of what I've described above in vague terms as "good" prescriptivism. I would also be happy to see a well argued explanation of why my notion of good prescriptivism is wrong.


texts: Alternative term for "recover" in case of trivial problems

texts:
Normally after we get rid of a severe disease, we use the term 'recover'.

I just recovered from Cancer or Tuberculosis.

If it was just a trivial headache/cold, how would we say it?

  I just ___ from a headache.

If you have any other way of saying the same, please do not hold yourself back.


texts: Which is the right one: I have to prepare or I have to be prepared

texts:
Which is the right one and why:
Sample Context: I'm having the exam next week
I have to prepare
Vs.
I  have to be prepared
Here, I'm expecting the meaning of these sentences, and in which situation they can be used [to prepare Vs. to be prepared when talking about the 1st person].


texts:
On Facebook, Libyans started inviting each other to something like random gift giving event on the occasion of Feb, 17, in Libya. It is a very good idea. Giving a gift to somebody else you don't know is a nice thing to do.

"If I was in Libya, I would've done it."

I saw the conditional statement above on someone else's wall.

Do you think, the statement needs to be corrected?

The person is currently not situated in Libya and apparently won't be in Libya in Feb 17.

The invitation to the event has started already and continuing until Feb 17.

The gift-giving a FUTURE event which is not taking place at the time of speaking.

"I would have done it" refers to the act of participating in the gift-giving event which is again a FUTURE event.

According to the rules of conditional statements demonstrated in the picture below. Which one of the sentences below would you choose?

1- If I am in Libya, I will do it.

2- If I were in Libya, I would do it.

3- If I had been in Libya, I would have done it.

Ps:

1= expresses what will happen if something else happens.

2= talks about the outcome of a possible event.

3= talks about the hypothetical outcome of an event that did not happen.

I am confused between 1 and 2.


texts: "Who cares [if/that] it [is/isn't] true" — which to use when?

texts:
Imagine the following scenario:

  Person A: I love this movie so much! The story is so beautiful!
  Person B: Well, the story isn't true.

Now, person A has a few options in how to follow the conversation:

  Who cares if it's true. It's a nice story!
  Who cares if it isn't true. It's a nice story!
  Who cares that it isn't true. It's a nice story!

I reckon it's correct to use isn't, as the negative is used in the original statement, but I'm not exactly sure how if versus that changes the meaning.

Can anyone shed some insight on this?


texts: I am looking for an American English term for a "TV box" as a source of zombification and brain killing. Maybe "boob tube" is the right one? The shorter, the better.


texts: When is "and" appropriate but "as well as" is not?

texts:
Until some seconds ago when I was looking through one of the grammar section is test review book, I had long believed that they were (most of the time, but you know English always has those nicketypicketies that "no one" cares about) interchangeable.

Here is a example, where only "and" seems appropriate, according my book;

  Because of her command of pathos, tragedy, and humor, George Eliotis considered to be a great English novelist.

This is the explanation it gives as to why "as well as" in place of "and" will be inappropriate:

  The phrase as well as improperly connects the third item in a series humor to two earlier items...


texts:
Which is the most popular meaning of the commonly used phrase "Best kept secret"?

"It's best if this is kept secret, though other options are viable"?
"This is the secret that is kept best of all secrets."?

...or maybe some other?


texts: What is the meaning of "peel" in this passage?

texts:
The following passage from Planescape: Torment is when Ghysis the Crooked is describing the different demons that humans may make contracts with.  What is the meaning of the word "peel" here?  It seems like it could be a euphemism for "flay", but I feel like it's not meant that way here.

  The man nods. "They don't usually pay as much as th' tanar'ri, but
  they don't break their written word. They're smart, though - several
  hundred, hundred, hundred fold smarter an' they been makin'
  contracts since time began. They know 'ow ta peel someone with words,
  they do. Sign, an' most likely ye'll be peeled an' hung ta dry in
  their legions..."

I tried checking Wiktionary and Oxford but didn't see any definition that fit. The slang from this game is based on old English slang and rhyming slang, neither of which I am familiar with. So it may likely be an obscure use not listed in most dictionaries.

Edit:
The same character also has the following dialogue containing the same usage of "peel":

  "Chances are when ye sign up, they peel ye so yer tour o' duty is 'til
  time itself grinds ta a 'alt. Even death wouldn't be a release, 'cause
  then ye sink inta th' Lower Planes an' get dredged back up as
  somethin' worse'n ye were before. Then they got their talons on ye fer
  all eternity."


texts:
Certain words are often used in a fixed combination. As an example consider the phrase - 'hardly......when' as used in the sentence - "Hardly had I entered the room when the light went out."  For clarity consider another example - "No sooner did the teacher go out than the pupils started playing."

What should be the combination for -
1) Rarely...
2) Never before...

Also, can anyone provide me any links where I can find more of such combinations?


texts: Is it gramatically incorrect to begin a sentence with 'But'?

texts:
I am wondering because I was told that it is, but from what I've seen it's pretty widely used.

Thanks!


texts:
In my essays, I used to write,
"
...a handsome of amount is spend...", or "..earn a handsome of money as perks..."

But one of my online trainer, told me that to use 'handsome of' like this, is a wrong expression.. Can any, native English speaker or IELTS/PET trainers here, please comment on it?


texts: Concise phrase or term to express "There are no plans to address or implement this suggestion"

texts:
For an online issue tracker of a programming language, which takes community suggestions, I need a one to three word 'label' to mark suggestions and proposals which the core design and development team have decided not to implement or address, both currently, and most likely in the near and far future as well.

The current label is "Declined". However, I have expressed that I find it inappropriate for several reasons:

It excessively highlights the particular issuer and their personal appeal rather than the idea or concept at hand, which may be more general than the one as presented.
Not all community suggestions are actual 'proposals'. Some are simply expressions of needs or reports of particular problems with only a vague idea of the desired resolution provided. It is also very common that the proposed solution is not very well-researched or engineered.
Too "final" and "verdict-like". Doesn't leave enough room for future reconsideration.
It doesn't feel very friendly and creates a somewhat harsh atmosphere.

Finding an alternative term turned out to be very hard. My initial instinct was "Unplanned", however it was seen as ambiguous as it may also be read as "Unscheduled". The ideal term, unlike "Unplanned", should be strictly and unambiguously read as "Not intended or likely to happen" rather than "Not set on if or when it is likely to happen".

Most reasonable options so far:

"No Foreseeable Plans" (inspired by some of the commentary here - best one so far, I think).
"No Prospective Plans" (seems close so far in terms of capturing the intended semantics, but I believe there could be a more 'elegant' and/or shorter way to express this)
"No Prospective Intentions" (another one that's quite good in terms of semantics but just doesn't feel "elegant" enough to me)
"Not Currently Planned" (could still be misinterpreted as "Not Currently Scheduled")
"No Future Plans" (too vague)
"No Design Team Interest" (too long, somewhat different semantically than the previous ones)
"No Design Team Approval" (too long, not that different from "Declined")

Any better ideas?


texts: What is the meaning of 'as with that' in the following sentence?

texts:
'As with the stripping down of the former high building of the Hotel Ukrainia, Kiev was the testing bed for a new pared-down form of Metro decoration and, as with that, the first examples just look like Stalinist stations that have been denuded of some of their fancy dress, rather than any kind of distinctive new style.'
Could the phrase refer to the example given at the beginning of the sentence, ie. as was the case with the stripping down of the former high building of the Hotel Ukrainia?
Thank you.


texts: Word for making an assertion without knowledge of its truth?

texts:
As opposed to lying which is to assert a false statement knowing that it is untrue, with the intent to deceive.

Is there a related word for making a statement as if it were true, with the intent to deceive, except the individual is actually unaware of its truth value?

ADDED

Contextual example:

Alice: This news presenter looks under-dressed.

Bob: No he doesn't, they probably don't get to choose what they wear anyway, so even if he did, its not his fault.

Alice: They do get to choose what they wear.

Bob: You don't know that, you're word/phrase here.

Alice does not know, but in the strict sense of the term, she is not lying because she does not know the real truth value of her statement. She wants to 'win' this exchange by asserting a statement whose truth she is ignorant of.


texts: "Abstract away from": disregarding details in effort to reach higher general and overarching notion of something

texts:
I am a native Danish speaker. The Danish definition of the verb abstract translates to "disregarding the subordinate details in an effort to build a general, overarching notion of something". Thus, the verb gives connotations of something elevated, refined or pure. When translating my dictionary suggests "abstract", "disregard", or "abstract away from". The British National Corpus has almost no entries for the term "abstract away", while my gut felling tells me that the connotations associated with "disregard" is not quite right (i.e. "ignore" or "make light of").
Example:

We abstract away from the specific mechanism and instead consider a general setting, where ...

I am open to rewriting the entire sentence, but I am unsure how to capture the feeling of something elevated, refined or pure, i.e. lifting it to a higher level. Or can I write "abstract away from"?


texts:
Kindly explain what does "intuitive" mean in this case? Convenient?

  Intuitive alerts about flight delays and schedules.

Source: http://www.eater.com/2015/11/18/9750940/airport-restaurants


texts:
Given the following sentence:

"As if she lived in a castle and her favourite princes and princesses had just dropped by to visit"

Is this a compound or sentence fragment?


texts: What do first, second, and third person perspective mean? Why are they so called?

texts:
I am aware of the terms first person, second person and third person from grammar, but I have also seen them used in other contexts, in particular first person perspective with regard to video games.

What is the precise meaning of first person perspective? Can the terms second person and third person be applied to perspectives in the same way?

As far as my limited understanding of grammar goes, I know that the first person is written with "I" forms, second with "you" forms, and third with "he/her/it" forms. Is this grammatical meaning related to the meaning with perspectives, and if so, how?


texts:
After a far greater than anticipated amount of research, I am still unable to find and confirm an exact antonym for the word 'replicable'.  I have found multiple sites that have one (or some combination) of the three following words: 'unreplicable', 'non-replicable', and 'irreplicable'.  For a 4 page paper that I am writing, (I'll be using one of these three words in a thesis statement which I've been attempting to perfect for 20 minutes now), which one of these three words (or maybe some other word) would be best?

My thesis statement is here: https://pastebin.com/7ywaPhq3


texts: A word appears to be missing in this sentence

texts:
The following sentence appeared in a report in The Guardian:

  All eight will appear in court on Monday charged with grievous bodily harm and damaging property.

Should not causing be added before grievous as under?

  All eight will appear in court on Monday charged with causing grievous bodily harm and damaging property.


texts: When do you exactly use a single quote and a double quotes?

texts:
He said that the car was "beautifully scratched."
He said that the car was "beautifully scratched".

Where should the full stop be?

He said that the car was "pretty."
He said that the car was 'pretty.'
He said that the car was "pretty".
He said that the car was 'pretty'.

The difference is in the placement of the full stop and usage of quotes.
Out of these four, which is correct?


texts:
How do I correctly identify the object in a sentence?
Here are two examples I am confused about.

She rose from her chair.
On a website, I read that this sentence doesn't contain any object. But I believe that since the "chair" is receiving the action of the verb "rose", it must be an object.

He is working on a project.
Is project an object here?

Kindly tell me  how can I easily sort out objects in different sentences.


texts: Differences between "just might" and "might just?"

texts:
Can someone help me understand more precisely the connotative differences between "just might" and "might just

I came upon this dilemma while working on a short comic strip. In the first panel, a person is attempting an unorthodox approach to a problem, saying:

  It might just work.

The second panel, moments later:

  It didn't work.

I'm unsure if the effect would be significantly altered if the words were swapped.


texts: the job is not up to one's qualifications and standard, in fact it is below his standard

texts: what "word" can I use to tell someone that the job is not up to his qualifications and standard. The job in fact is below his standard.


texts: What is the early recorded use of "white trash" and has its meaning changed over time?

texts:
I am reading The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, written in 1885, and came across a passage describing poor white Southerners who had no property or slaves but who were nevertheless coerced or cajoled into supporting the rebellion as white trash.

  The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre—what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation. Under the old régime they were looked down upon by those who controlled all the affairs in the interest of slave-owners, as poor white trash who were allowed the ballot so long as they cast it according to direction.

I had assumed the term white trash was a more modern idiom. I am curious, when did the term originate and has the meaning changed over time?


texts: Is it right to say "I've compensated that day that I didn't work"

texts:
What is the correct way to say that I've worked to cover some hours that I didn't work on a specific day of the week? Let's say that I work 8 hours every day, but on Monday I worked only 4, but on Friday I _______ the hours that I didn't work on Monday.

Can I use the verb cover or compensate?


texts:
I'm trying to figure out the word play behind this dialog (it is taken from A Bit of Fry and Laurie show - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaqZpcPEZEY):

Good morning.
Right. Can I help you?
Yes, your face, my arse.
No, I said, "Can I help you? "
Oh, I see. Yes, I'd like some information, please.

I've tried to google it and have found a similar slang "answer" for "Do you have a match?" question. I understand that it that case word play comes from the fact that "match" has two meanings to it.

But it seems that "Can I help you?" has only one meaning to it - where does "Yes, your face, my arse." come from?


texts: Boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko pulled out of the race for Ukrainian

texts: The sentence underlines that Vitaly Klitschko is a former boxer who has now given to politics. Is "boxer-turned-politician" a common construction  to refer to people who change activities, or is it more the  writer's wording ability?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "bullet points"?

texts:
In particular, was the expression coined by a single individual or is it attributed to a document?

The only thing I've been able to find was a non-cited reference to its origins in the 19th century on Wikipedia.  There are plenty of sites on their usage and shapes, but nothing as to when or who coined the expression bullet point.

Their use, according to Google Ngrams, sky-rockets sometime around 1985, peaking in 2004, which seems odd (to me) if they originated a century or more earlier.

Edit: The coining of the phrase (who first used 'bullet points' and when) is the primary interest.  If someone knows the origins of the bullet (or other symbol) usage I would also be interested.  I accept that the latter of these may be out of scope, so disregard at your leisure.


texts:
I was writing a message to a friend and I got confused about these two expressions ''best'' and ''for the best'' in this particular context:

''it would be best to stop seeing each other''

vs

''it would be for the best to stop seeing each other''

Which one sounds better?

Thank you so much for your help


texts: Word or phrase for someone who does not think far into the future

texts: I'm looking for a word or phrase for someone who does not think about things far into the future. They may only see what is possible in the immediate future, say a year or so, but they do not consider what could happen in 5 or 10 years.


texts: Adjective or noun when referring to plural citizenship

texts:
What is the right form to use when talking about plural citizenship?
"We are Italian" or "we are Italians"? (or American, Or German or any other ending with "*an")
Same issue for "Saudi" or "Saudies", "Israeli" or "Israelies", etc.
I understand that one is used as a noun and one as an adjective, but which is right and why?

And on the same topic, how can for example, "Chinese", "Taiwanese" or "Japanese" be used differently for plural and singular?

And what should one do with "Korean" - is "Koreans" even valid? Somehow it sounds strange to say "Koreans".

EDIT I : as result of the comments :

I am not specifically talking about "nationality" . the same can be asked about a city:

would It be "Londonian" or "Londonese" , "New-Yorkean" or "New-Yorker" "New Yorkian" or "New-yorkese"?

..and also about non-human objects or concepts like books, food, drinks, art , company etc.

I am sorry if I combine different concepts here , But I have a difficulty in pin pointing a common logic .


texts: Describing behaviors observed only for certain tasks

texts: I want to use a short term to describe behaviors that are observed only for certain tasks. Can I use "task-wise behaviors" or "task-specific behaviors"? Or is there any other better and more formal terms to describe this?


texts: Are there English letter frequency charts based on the assumed age of the speaker/reader?

texts:
Has anyone done work to construct letter frequency charts based on the assumed age of the reader/speaker, and also spoken word vs written text?
One would expect that letter usage would be different in books targeted at (for example) a 3rd grader vs a college student.  Also, people often write differently than they speak.
My first grade daughter loves the show "Pokemon".  In that show the Pokemon characters only speak sounds that are made from pieces of their name.  For example a Pikachu pokemon only speaks words made from combinations of the sounds "Pi", "Ka", and "Chu".  She thought it would be cool to make a real Pikachu language.  And I think its a good opportunity to teach her about encoding schemes.
The obvious choice is encoding letters of the alphabet using these three sounds.  Ideally one would want the length of the words to be minimized.  We have three sounds, therefore a ternary Huffman code based on an English letter frequency chart would provide an optimal code.
I have seen many charts (like this one) ...
http://pi.math.cornell.edu/~mec/2003-2004/cryptography/subs/frequencies.html
Based on that chart, here is the code I came up with so far.

... but this chart is based on generic data and therefore wouldn't be optimal in terms of the words a first grader would choose to speak.
This would be a spoken language only, so there is no need to encode special symbols or different letter cases.  I am only interested in the frequency of English letters A-Z.
The ideal table would come from research based on recordings of spoken interactions of elementary school children in the United States (preferably first grade).  But if that's not available then tables based on books targeted at those age ranges would be the next best choice.


texts: Does "If X discovers that Y is Z" imply that Y is Z?

texts:
Related Question: Entailment/Presupposition in if-clause.

Consider the sentence "If John discovers that Mary is in New York, he will get angry." Does this imply that Mary is in New York now? Is "discovers" a counterfactual in present tense, only meaningful if John could now discover that Mary is in New York?


texts: A singular word for statements like "all Brits have bad teeth" or "all Italians are romantic" or "all Americans are uneducated/overweight"

texts: Not prejudice but making assumptions about a culture or group of people either negative or positive.


texts: Why is the opposite of "greater than" "less than"?

texts:
I am confused on why these naming conventions are the way they are. The symbols > and < are usually written as "greater than" and "less than".

The opposite of "less" is "more", isn't it? Though those words describe quantities only, which might not be desired if you're talking about a measure of size instead.

So, sticking with "greater than", shouldn't the opposite be called "smaller than"?


texts: Is or was "too young for to marry" valid English, now or in the past?

texts:
I made a very serious effort to locate the name of this song, and to find more info on it. Sadly, I was unable to. All I have is this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWTF6nRqNvU
It appears to be a folk song from the 1500s from England, or something like that. The point is, some of the lyrics go:

Well, sixteen years old, that's too young for to marry.

"For to marry"? Was this ever "valid"/common English? Is it still? I'd expect "to get married", but even in "old-timey" English terms, this sounds odd to me.


texts: is there some difference between "an official" and "an officer"

texts:
if I use the word "official" as a noun, then does it have some difference with the word "officer" ??

Sample sentence:

  There are three major officers, head official, deputy official and other officer along with the people.


texts: Uncorrect vs. Incorrect; Do the two words have the same meaning?

texts:
I often heard professors at the University I was enrolled in use the word "uncorrect."
The word 'uncorrect' is in some reputable English dictionaries, and conspicuous by its absence in others.
Are people who use the word 'uncorrect' incorrect in the words intended usage?
Or, should the word 'uncorrect' not be used at all?
Additional Information:
Through a brief search of the word 'uncorrect', these are four online dictionaries that publish 'uncorrect' as being a legitimate word. I readily admit, these dictionary resources are not to be relied upon.
The links are as follows:
www.dictionary.com/browse/uncorrect
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Uncorrect
https://www.yourdictionary.com/uncorrect
https://www.azdictionary.com/what-does-Uncorrect-mean


texts: Participle clauses with past participles

texts:
I have read many times that "participle clauses with past participles have a passive meaning" but I came across this sentence which made me confused.Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  Attached to a mother that only a son could love, Jerry, the newborn,
  suckling pig, felt a profound attraction to ugliness come over him.

I asked this question because the participle clause in this sentence sounds in active voice for me.If I rewrite the sentence it could be :

  Jerry attached to a mother that only a son could love. Jerry, the
  newborn, suckling pig, felt a profound attraction to ugliness come
  over him.

I assume the verb attach is transitive and used in active voice here but Jerry is supposed to be the object of the participle clause in this sentence,  not the subject again.

So for me right sentence could be :

  Attached by a mother that only a son could love, Jerry, the newborn,
  suckling pig, felt a profound attraction to ugliness come over him.


texts: Word for someone who is currently in the vicinity, or the grounds of a particular venue

texts:
I'm sure there must be a word for someone who is currently in the vicinity, or the grounds of a particular venue. For example, I want to say:

  ...while the sounds of the rest of the ______ gang enjoying their dinner spills out of the eating tent...

Something like occupying, or residing, but not so much that they live there, but rather that they are currently present. Is there a word for that?


texts: Can "We heard you like burgers" be misinterpreted?

texts:
Is it correct if you say "We heard you like burgers" and mean that 'you' like burgers and 'we' heard that 'you' like it?

Can it also be interpreted as 'we' heard 'you' speak like burgers?

Do you have to add a comma to avoid misinterpretation?


texts: What construction or classification is "Come what may"

texts: Is this an example of inversion, an idiom, archaic usage, or just incorrect?


texts: Single word for - discussing the answers of an examination

texts:
Once an examination is over and the answer sheets have been evaluated, my university offers a session for the students to verify their marks by discussing it with the evaluators, by that way the students are convinced that they got fair marks. Of-course students can come forth and get their marks corrected if an answer is not evaluated well.

My question is - What is such a session called? Here it is popularly known as crib session, but while googling, I didn't see that word used in the aforementioned context.


texts: Hello, I am confused with days calculation, can someone clarify this for me?

texts:
for example

If you had shower on Monday(2.1.2017 18:00), then you had no shower on Tuesday (3.1.2017 18:00) and then had shower again on Wednesday (4.1.2017 18:00)

And it is still 4.1.2017 on-going day meaning the day is not over yet.

Would you say you have not showered for two or one day?

Before you read this, tell me what you would say and after that read this:

In my country, we would say I have not showered for one day. Because I showered on Monday so no count, Wednesday showered too, so no count as well. Tuesday =no shower so count. You get my idea?

But in reality you have not showered for two days...

So what do you think? Can you explain to me  how can I figure out the last time the person has for example uploaded a video if he tells me he has not uploaded a video for 3 days already?

Let's say today is 5.1.2017 what day was last time he uploaded video?


texts: Is it correct "Accepting payments was never this simple and easy"

texts: Is it correct to say Accepting payments was never this simple and easy -- I am concerned about the plural + was; is that correct?


texts:
You know the phrase that's usually said in a sing-song manner? Which is the correct one?

I only ever hear it in spoken form, so I'm not sure if I'm mishearing it.

Also, is there a comma in this phrase?  Like "No, can do" or "No, can't do"


texts: Generalised rule for verb usage in simple present tense using participle

texts:
I'm doing a school exercise where I have to give an explanation of the underlined (or in this case bold) verb usage in given sentences, following this format:

  I was waiting.

  past continuous (or progressive) =
  subject + was / were + verb + ‘-ing’ (or present participle)

The last sentence I am to anaylse is giving me trouble:

  Toyota cars are made in Japan.

I've indentified the tense as present simple, and  cars is clearly the subject, and "are" at least one of the verbs. But what is the rule for past participles in simple present tense? I've done fairly extensive searches online and found grammar websites that give examples of the same format as present simple tense, but none that give any explanation or rule for how the past participle is used in this case.

My best guess for the desired analysis is:

  cars are made

  Simple present =
  subject + is / are + past participle

But this is only an inference, and I don't know if it accurately reflects any actual grammatical rule.

Any help will be appreciated. (And don't worry, I'm allowed to use the internet, several links are even included with the exercise, so you're not helping me cheat)


texts: What does "go with" mean in this context?

texts:
People rate how close they feel to one another on a scale of 1 to 10
and someone says "I'll go with a 5".

I understand it loosely but I want to know its precise meaning as a native speaker feels.


texts: meaning and form, grammatical, verb forms

texts:
Different meaning and form............

..........


texts:
My wife and I are playing a game where you roll dice and move so many spaces in a grid "vertically or horizontally".

In the use of English it is very common to say, this or the other when it comes to making a choice  (exclusive or). Now I know that "or" can also be inclusive, for example "she couldn't read or write", or can be clearly used as an xor "you either come or not" making the statement true for only one of the options but not both.

My issue is where it is not clear whether it is an inclusive/exclusive or, the best example being our game.

I argue that you can move in either direction (inclusive) and the normal use of this conjunction in English should be inclusive unless specified otherwise.

Is this right?


texts:
How does "click" in the context of the sentences below differ from click on and click through?

Click the link to subscribe.

Click on the link to subscribe.

Click through the link to subscribe.

Are all the 3 sentences above correct?


texts: 'Give you notice' vs 'Give you a notice'

texts:
Which form of the following sentence is correct:

We wanted to give you notice...

or

We wanted to give you a notice...


texts: Alternative phrase/word for 'Up to this point'

texts:
I'm looking for a way to rephrase the following sentence:

  Up to this point, Rosemary’s ‘maternal instinct’ had remained dormant.

The phrase I'm looking to replace is: Up to this point


texts: what does "To err is human; to err humble is divine" mean?

texts: Read this in an article referring to "the best way to introduce yourself" and wanted more clarity on this statement "To err is human; to err humble is divine"


texts: Is there a word or phrase for a third-party contractor of a third-party entity?

texts:
Consider the following:

I represent Company A
Company A has a contractor that they offload work to, called Company B
Company B has a contractor that they offload Company A's work to, called Company C
Each of these companies renders services, not physical goods. In a sense, they all operate in a single supply chain, but it doesn't fit the overall context of the relationship well.

Because of this, I would call Company B a third-party entity to Company A. I would also call Company C a third-party entity to Company B.
This post is close, but it doesn't quite capture the hierarchy or context of this.
With this in mind, what are some appropriate options to describe the relationship Company C has to Company A? Essentially, how do I state a relationship about a third party's third party?


texts: What do you call the action of take a number instead of waiting in line or queue?

texts:
Is there a word describing this action?

What is the name of the machine that provides you a ticket with your number or priority turn? you don't wait in line/queue in order, just take a seat and wait to be called by this number, code or even your name.

Also, need to know the name of the display where you see the last turn called.

Thanks

EDIT:
I supposed to replicate this in a software system. The term Kiosk applies here?


texts: How to pluralize surnames ending in short vowel then s?

texts:
I've seen on this board that these are the rules: for certain ending letters - which include s - to add es to pluralize, and add only s to the rest. The rules say never change y to ies. And of course never use apostrophe!

But I have a friend whose surname is Kos, pronounced "koss". Should her family be "the Koses"? That looks like it would rhyme with the pronunciation of "the roses". My gut says double the s, but maybe not if we don't change y to ies...


texts: What is the difference between "forcibly" and "forcefully"?

texts:
The scene I am writing is about a woman seducing a soldier on battlefront. She provokes him by lifting her face and keeping it at a few inches from his. He replies by holding her by the back of her head and kissing her.

He held his hands on the back of her head and pressed her lips on his. She posed a weak resistance, further provoking him as he kissed her ----------

What is a better choice for word here? forcibly or forcefully?


texts: Can I make minor typographical corrections to a title in citations?

texts:
Let's say I need to cite a website or printed report with the title:

  Broccoli production in Ruritania, 1990-2010

with a hyphen in "1990-2010." In English typography, though, the standard indicator for numerical ranges is an en-dash (–), not the shorter hyphen (-).

Is it licit to substitute an en-dash for a hyphen in a citation or footnote, as in

  See "Broccoli production in Ruritania, 1990–2010," Ruritanian Ministry of Agriculture, 2011.

without remarking on the correction? Strictly speaking, I'm changing the "official" title of the work, but the change is minimal and unlikely to keep anyone from finding the cited work.


texts:
From questions about peanut butter to “Why are we alive?”, my sporadic and random questions always makes my friends laugh.
Can I put a comma after the quoted question (as seen in the example above)? Or is that illegal.


texts:
The current headline reads:  FBI director sacking row.

Dictionaries have not helped, will someone help understand it in full? The last word is the most troubling.


texts: proper phrasing for "avoid X in favor of Y"

texts:
I'm having a brain cramp: if cookies should be avoided, and carrots are preferable instead, is it correct to say:

  Avoid cookies in favor of carrots.

or if not, what's the correct way to phrase?


texts: Is it ok to say "this number feigns in comparison to"

texts:
I am writing a report where I want to say something like:

  The number of structures in the PDB has been steadily increasing, with nearly 140 thousand structures currently available. However, this number feigns in comparison to the number of unique protein sequences that have been discovered, with over 210 million unique sequences present in the UniParc database.

However, I am not sure about the "this number feigns in comparison to" part. I have a feeling that I am using the wrong word here, but googling around didn't give me any leads.


texts: What does the expression "You're just one more hand me down" in this song mean?

texts:
Someday they'll find your small town world on a big town avenue
Gonna make you like the way they talk when they're talking to you
Gonna make you break out of the shell cause they tell you to
Gonna make you like the way they lie better than the truth
They'll tell you everything you wanted someone else to say
They're gonna break your heart, yeah

[Chorus]

From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now

Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/matchbox20/handmedown.html


texts: Where does "Yeah right" come from? Can it be used in a formal writing? If not, what is a good alternative?


texts:
I was talking with my colleague today, He said:
Bob said a dog broke his leg.
Does he means dog's leg broke or Bob's leg broke by the dog.
(I came from China & English is not so good)


texts: What is the relationship called between a word and something/someone that does/performs that word?

texts:
Basically, is there a word that relates "carpenter" to "carpentry" or "astronomer" to "astronomy"?
So if there is a subject that does some noun, is there a word or phrase for that relationship?
EDIT 1:
Sample sentence: "'activist' is a _________ of 'activism'." or "'architect' is a _________ of 'architecture'."


texts: Why do only a few English demonyms indicate gender?

texts:
A friend recently pondered why Latino/Latina inflects according to gender. I suggested that it's because Latino is a loanword from a language with grammatical gender, but he found it odd that other demonyms don't inflect this way, and he wondered whether there was something etymologically or historically unique about the word. Wikipedia offers a long list of demonyms, and only Pinoy/Pinay and Canadien(ne) inflect like this.

I also noted that Englishman has a feminine ‑woman form, although the etymology here is different. Etymology Online attests that Englishman dates to Old English, whereas gendered Englishwoman is a newer form (c.1400). This inflection appears to have a different productive mechanism, one that mainly applies to places with significant Anglophone or Norse history: Englishman, Frenchman, Irishman, Dutchman, Scotsman, Chinaman, Welshman, Norseman (roughly in order of usage).

Is there any etymological rhyme or reason to this? Why do we inflect Latino and Canadien but not other words derived from non-Germanic languages like Spaniard? Why do we have Irishwomen but not Italianwomen (and only very rarely Spanishwomen)?

Update: MετάEd answered this satisfactorily for the native demonyms ending in -man: In those cases, the gendered variants are largely the result of a semantic shift where Old English man “person” became Middle English man “male” and woman “female.” However, I'm still looking for an explanation of why English adopted the gender inflection of Latino, Filipino, and Pinoy, unlike most other demonyms. Is this perhaps because they are endonyms used by a significant number of bilingual English speakers?


texts: "have been requested", "has been" or "had been"

texts:
I always have difficulty in sorting out between "have been" and "had been", I face this issue a lot.

As an example, which one is correct?

  The items have been requested by your team
  The items had been requested by your team


texts: indefinite article plus proper name in organizational (i.e. business or bureaucracy) contexts

texts:
The use of the indefinite article with a proper name occurs often in business or organizational speech-contexts:

  We're lucky to have a Bill Jones to get the job done.

The article plus proper noun is used differently there than it is in narrative contexts, where it is typical to find an adjective as well:

  A young Bill Jones would soon make his debut at Carnegie Hall.

There is an inherent contradiction in the former combination: it suggests individuality and fungibility simultaneously. It is subtly demeaning. The locution praises Jones while reminding him and everyone in earshot that employees can be replaced, although this message might not be at the conscious level.

I recall reading that, in a language whose grammatical genders included animate and inanimate, it was possible to insult someone by affixing the inanimate gender marker to an adjective applied to the person. Do you think this use of the indefinite article with a proper noun functions in a similar way?


texts: Phrase to describe friends you can't/don't talk about difficult topics with

texts:
How could I describe friends that I only talk about fluffy topics with?

Fair-weather friends is not quite what I intend here, because it implies if times got difficult the friends would leave. I'm trying to describe people who you're not close enough with to confide in or talk about more difficult topics, but you are friends (as opposed to acquaintances). I also don't intend this to be a pejorative.

Things we have come up with so far are fluffy friends since you talk only about fluffy topics, and Disney friends, since they're uncomplicated, easy, and happy, but I'm hoping for something a little clearer that doesn't require explanation.


texts:
A Japanese friend asked me this:

  When I want to say that someone has influenced me, I can say "influenced by". When I am skeptical of someone or doubtful of someone, I can say, "skeptical of" and "doubtful of". Since "doubtful" and "skeptical" are both adjectives, would it be possible for me to say "I am influential of you"? I think you can because the word "influential" is an adjective."

Basically he is trying to ask me if "I am influenced by you" is the same as "I am influential of you". Although I have never really heard the latter phrase before, my friend seems to have a point with this one.

Even if it's not heard in professional writings or speech, do you think it could be used in a colloquial way?


texts:
Is it okay to use "I better" simple as that as an answer.

Example if I wear a costume and someone says "you look like a mermaid" .."I better!"


texts: Meaning of "Your eyes are veiled wit far too many veils..."?

texts:
Full context :

  Your eyes are veiled wit far too many veils. Each thing you look upon
  is but a veil.

Can you explain what it ideologically means , emphasize on first sentence.


texts: Looking for a word meaning grooming or preening

texts: I am trying to come up with a name for my red eyed tree frog. She cannot stand to have a speck of bedding on her and is constantly grooming herself. I cannot think of an accurate word to describe her for a name other than diva or princess or some such thing. Is there another word for grooming or preening or obsessive cleaning, or anything that could be used as a female pet name? Thank you


texts:
I looked at the Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries online and they don't contain this word. But typing it into google takes me to the Merriam Webster definition. So does this just come down to taste?

The reason is that my computer programming team needs to establish a standard (in programming you write "subaccount" if it's one word, or "subAccount" if it's two words or hyphenated).


texts: Difference between "ignorant" and "uninformed"

texts: What is the difference between ignorant and uninformed? In ordinary usage, is one considered a put down and the other considered a statement of fact? If so, why? Am I ignorant or simply uninformed?


texts: Word for calculating/adjusting a payment when I previously paid too much?

texts:
As part of a percentage rent, I need to pay my landlord 10% of my monthly revenue, but no lower than $10,000.

Therefore, I automatically pay $10,000 at the beginning of each month. So let's say we're dealing with January. I pay $10,000, and shortly into February, I have determined my monthly revenue, and 10% of it is $15,000. Now I need to pay an additional $5,000 for January, instead of all 10% of my revenue (because I already put down $10,000).

Now, what is the word for what we did to the 10% of revenue to use only the portion needed to leave the landlord with only $15,000?

Example sentence:

  Because I have already paid $10,000, we must _________ the $15,000.

The word offset has been suggested, but I do not think it is an accurate choice.

Also - please make suggestions that fit in the example sentence above, the structure is quite important to my question.


texts: What word describes a university class in both the UK and the US?

texts:
In the US words like class, subject, course are used to describe a university class, while in the UK, words like subject and course are used to describe the name of the whole university degree. Instead in the UK words like module or unit are used to describe a university class.

Is there a word that will be understood by both British English speakers and American English speakers?

UPDATE: by university class I meant a series of lectures on a topic e.g. "Economics 101" or "Introduction to Statistics".


texts: Which is correct: "of interest" or "in question"?

texts:
Let's say that I have a shopping list with a bunch of items.

I want to contact a seller, and purchase the items.

Let's say I have a conversation with the seller about a particular item.  Let's just say the item is a television.

As I communicate the seller for a long period of time, do I refer to the item (i.e. television)

item of interest
or
item in question?

Also, could someone please elaborate on when we should use "of interest" and when should we use "in question"? Are the 2 phrases always interchangeable?
What is the difference between the 2 phrases?


texts: Is there a word for four times as much, analogous to once, twice, and thrice?

texts: Is there a word for 'four times as much', analogous to once, twice, and thrice?


texts: Is "the phenomenon that a conductor experiences a force in a magnetic field" grammatically correct?

texts:
The full sentence is:

  [The Motor Effect is:] The phenomenon that a current-carrying
  conductor experiences a force in an external magnetic field.

My Physics teacher says that it sounds clunky.

I can find a similar usage on a Wikipedia page:

  Stein's example... is the phenomenon that when three or more parameters are estimated simultaneously, there exist combined estimators more accurate on average ... than any method that handles the parameters separately.

The argument against this is that there is the "when" placing a condition upon the rest of the sentence. I disagree and believe that "The phenomenon that " + an independent clause is perfectly valid grammar.


texts:
Recently, I had to write an email to one of my professors regarding an urgent matter. I was basically asking him for some guidance in the matter.

I am not a native speaker and normally I end my formal emails with 'Best regards'.  Since this was important to me and I wanted a quick response I wanted to sign with 'Your hopefully'. I didn't know if this would be an appropriate way of ending a letter to a professor.

Is 'Yours hopefully' formal or informal? Is it still used to end letters with?

Note: I have read the following posts.

Is it "Yours faithfully" or "Yours sincerely"?
Is usage of “Yours sincerely” still appropriate?


texts: What is the term to describe the following situation about crime?

texts:
What is the word to describe the following:
A man goes into crime, and is successful at it which causes him to bring his son into crime. His son is successful, but doesn't bring his son in because he sees all of the bad things it brought into his life and his father's life.


texts: What's a title for a founder no longer with a company?

texts: I've seen it quite often that people refer to someone as a "former founder" or "former co-founder," but that's not really possible since a founder is always a founder. Once you found something, even if you leave the project that you founded, you are still a founder. You can't be a person who was at one time the founder of a project, but is no longer the founder. What's the proper way to refer to this phenomenon?


texts:
Over at AC.SE we are having a discussion about the block quote markup which has lead me to realize I do not understand when things should be quoted. I think I have four questions. My first question is:

  Is using a block quote here inappropriate?

My second question is

  Is using a block quote here when there is no preceding colon inappropriate?

My third question is: "do I need quotes here"?

My final question is "do I need quotes when there is no colon"?


texts: BrE: monophthong in here, clear, mere, etc

texts:
Usually in BrE words like clear, fere, clear, mere, etc are pronounced with a diphthong comprising an open high front vowel followed by something resembling a schwa. However, they are sometimes pronounced as a true monophthong at a position somewhat intermediate to either.

I don not use this pronunciation myself and it seems quite alien: I cannot work out the register, nor does it seem obviously regional, nor associated with RP. It doesn't seem to be an artefact of fast speech. I find see any indication of it being historical (but such things are hard to determine for a casual researcher).

Can anyone provide information on the use of this monophthong?


texts: Phrase for decision-making while considering two antagonistic effects

texts:
Let's say, you are going to buy a computer. The fast ones with good hardware are expensive. When you lower your budget, the hardware quality is worse, so you will end up with a slower one. You need to find a balance which is best for you in terms of both "speed of the computer" and "money you will spend".

Is there a phrase which describes this decision-making process? I don't mean the decision making based on a list of pros and cons. Here there is only two parameters and you need to find the best combination. I "feel" that there is a phrase, but I forgot -both in English and in Turkish (which is my mother tongue).


texts: Should I say "at both single- and multiple-object levels"

texts:
In my current writing task, there are two different conceptual levels: one single object level and one multiple objects level. When I call them together, should I say:

"At both single- and multiple-object levels..."

Or,

"At both single and multiple objects levels"?


texts: What does the idiom "batteries not included" mean?

texts:
In a comment on a Stack Overflow answer to my question, somebody said that "it is a very 'batteries not included' approach":

  it doesn't look like there's any easy way to make a strict RFC 4627-compliant parser using just the builtin modules. In principle you could write your own parser (perhaps using Lex/Yacc/Flex/Bison), but that's a very "batteries not included" approach (and I'm not even sure how those tools integrate with Python, if at all).

I searched its meaning but ended up finding that the phrase was the name of a movie and a book. I would like to know what it means in the context and how it is often used. Many Thanks.


texts: What does "great good" mean in the tutorial title "Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!"?

texts: There is a site learn you a haskell with the title "Learn You a Haskell for Great Good!". Does "Great Good" mean "very very good"? Does the whole phrase mean "learning Haskell is good for you" or "learning Haskell is good for the whole world" or something else?


texts: What would be the right way (grammar) for a law firm to wish a client a happy birthday

texts:
Would you say…

Johnson & Johnson wish you a happy birthday

or

Johnson & Johnson wishes you a happy birthday

I don't believe these are complete sentences and have read that a company really should be more formal when trying to send a message because a company can't really wish as it is not a person.

Maybe something along the lines of…

All of us at Johnson & Johnson would like to wish you a happy birthday

I am just trying to find a short correct way of stating this.

Thanks


texts: Alternative expressions to describe "rich experience"

texts:
I use "rich experience" often, but would like to use more precise expression.
i.e

  I have rich experience in mobile application development and have
  built more than 8 iOS apps for the last 3 years.

Not sure whether it is appropriate, and please let me know better solution if any.

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I would like to write an informal email:

  Sorry for not throwing a farewell party

Is throwing the right word here?


texts:
A bowyer is the person who builds the bows used in archery. Is there a single word (verb/ noun) describing this occupation (= making bows)?
Maybe I am a spoiled German speaker, because in German, if there is a word for a thing (Bogen = bow) you virtually always construct a single (composite-) word describing the occupation of making it (Bogenbau).


texts:
In a novel I am writing, one of the characters wishes to express her change in feelings towards another.

  “I’m not asking for her sake, but for ours,” I say honestly. A few days ago, I cared about what happened to her. I almost viewed her as an ally, so my concern wasn’t merely __________. But, I have no sentiment for her anymore.

So, I would like a word that means could fill in the blank. Something that means survival-based, or for one's own survival, (sorry for my poor expression here). I'm near positive there is a word for this; I've heard it before. But, right now, the only word I think of is pathological, which means obsessive/compulsive, and that is not the word I need. One-look's reverse dictionary bore no results. If anyone could assist that would be great?


texts: Anomaly when omitting a defining relative pronoun?

texts:
The question is why is the sentence A2 wrong?

A1 The man who looks/is tired is my brother. (OK)
A2 The man tired is my brother. (not OK)

B1 The man who is interested in your car will phone later. (OK)
B2 The man interested in your car will phone later. (OK)

Here is the rule:

If the relative pronoun RP is followed by a verb, the RP is the subject            pronoun. SPs must always be used.

           the apple which is lying on the table.

If the RP is not followed by a verb (but a noun or pronoun), the RP is an object pronoun. OPs can be dropped in defining relative clauses, which are then called Contact Clauses.

           the apple (which) George put on the table.

Thank you

BTW British Council Learn English grammar site describes B1/B2 as an example of a simplified relative clause. It says:

"Defining relative clauses can be simplified, or reduced, in several  ways:

If the relative clause contains the verb 'be' + any of the following then it can be reduced:

(a) be + an adjective phrase

Note that other verbs are possible here as well as 'be', such as 'seem', 'look' and 'appear'.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/relative-clauses-defining-relative-clauses


texts:
He also poured fuel on a long-running debate over how government intelligence services should balance their desire to keep software flaws secret - in order to conduct espionage and cyber warfare - against sharing those flaws with technology companies to better secure the internet.

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security-hospitals/more-disruptions-feared-from-cyber-attack-microsoft-slams-government-secrecy-idINKBN18820S

What does the "against" mean here?


texts:
Suppose I'm instructing people to learn Chinese kungfu and I ask them to look at the direction, downward and forward(it's the movement of their eyes).

If I want to say "look forward and look downward at the same time", can I express it in the following way?

  "look forward and downward."

I don't know if it's natural in English. If not, how should we say?
Thank you in advance.


texts:
I often find myself using the two words joined together, moreso. I'm not sure where I picked up this usage. I'm also not sure that it's necessarily the correct one, as some proofreading tools will flag for not being a correctly-spelled word. Though I have seen it in multiple places when I've been looking for it, even on this site.

Is moreso generally accepted as being correct? Would it be correct to use in a serious paper?


texts: “Marking a question as duplicate … except when a question is closed as a duplicate…”?

texts:
From the Help Center:

  Marking a question as duplicate is part of the question closing procedure, except when a question is closed as duplicate, the title is appended with "[Duplicate]" rather than "[Closed]".

I'm a native English speaker and not a scholar of English. When I look at this sentence, I see three phrases separated by two commas, and something is striking me as so discordant that I can not figure out, unambiguously, what this sentence is actually saying.

I think the problem centers around the word "except".
Does "except" apply to marking or to is part of?


texts:
Is this sentence correct ? If not, what would be the correct formulation ?

Being designed for « Best-effort » encoding (low slack time),
DVFS is therefore hard to apply on this type of components

Regards,
Nicolas


texts: "Torpedo remote detonator" vs "remote torpedo detonator"?

texts: This question is for game I am working on. I read about adjective order and I tried google something similar but still not sure which version is correct or is there any difference at all. Thanks!


texts: Does "Wand" mean wall? [I think they call it a wand.]?

texts:
I m watching an American drama; it's called Younger. Ms. A is trying to hide her real age (40), and she's pretending she's 26 now. Her phone rang during a meeting. Ms. B is her colleague. Thanks.

  B: Come on, Oh, my God, what is happening? Give me that (phone)

  A: I have no idea. Somebody's been messing with my phone.

  B: Hmm. Looks like you have a date tonight with Josh. And Josh is
  cute. Where is he taking you?

  A: Uh, no, I can't. Trout Pout has me buried with work.

  B: are you crazy? We re only in our 20s once.

  A: I know, you're right. It's true.

  B: Well, you got to live it.  Before you know it, you're gonna be in
  your 40s, living in a house in the suburbs with a husband who watches
  TV all night while you're in your bathtub, spritzing your shower hose
  on our special place.

  A : I think they call it a wand.  [Sighs] Help me with my
  makeup.

  B: Yes.


texts: Opposite of "specialized" in the context of computing units

texts:
A graphics card or an algebraic co-processor is a specialized computing unit.

A conventional CPU, which understands a lot more instructions, is a flexible computing unit.

I'm not happy with using flexible in the second sentence.

What are other possibilities?


texts: "is + past tense verb". Sugar is added or sugar added?

texts:
How to say correctly:

  1) Sugar is added to the coffee.
  2) Sugar added to the coffee.

or

  1) Software is tested successfully.
  2) Software tested successfully.

Thank you in advance


texts: What's the difference between simple past and present prefect? I quite have a doubt with the below statements. Do they convey the same meaning?

texts:
Do these two convey the same meaning? And if not, what's the difference?

Judy had visited Thailand in 2014
Judy visited Thailand in 2014


texts: Is there a name for this type of rhetoric?

texts:
It seems that there is a literary term for almost every imaginable rhetoric; is there a name for the following one?

  Natural selection is the blind watchmaker, blind because it does not
  see ahead, does not plan consequences, has no purpose in view. Yet the
  living results of natural selection overwhelmingly impress us with the
  appearance of design as if by a master watchmaker, impress us with the
  illusion of design and planning. —Richard Dawkins, The Blind
  Watchmaker, p.21.

The author frequently gives this example, but he never gives a through example of what would make one think that what he sees is actually designed, rather than with the appearance of design. So the rhetoric here is that one gives an argument of type “X does not look like Y” but without ever mentioning what looks like Y.


texts:
If I had to describe a state that occurred only for a certain amount of time, I'd simply use the adjective "temporary" to describe the state (or the adverb "temporarily" to describe the verb). What word describes a change by distance (without regard to time)?

For example, if I were giving spoken driving directions that go through a road whose name  changes from "Park Avenue" to "Main Street" and then back to "Park Avenue", I might say:

  Park Avenue changes temporarily to Main Street.

I think most people would hear that and understand clearly what I meant. However, "temporary" refers only to time (not distance), which makes me question whether I'm correctly using the word. After all, Park Avenue at mile marker 50 is always Park Avenue. What's a more appropriate adverb to describe "changes" in this context?


texts:
I wonder why on a lot of legal term in English country using "Acts of God" as an events outside human control?

As an Indonesian, I think everything that happens in this world is an act of God. And it reminds me one of The Simpsons episode "Sky Police" which Chief Wiggum crash to a church and the insurance companies won't cover it because Reverend Lovejoy said it's an "acts of God."

Why not use the term "natural disaster"? In Indonesia, if you say it's a natural disaster, the company cannot be blamed for a mistake they've made, like "Lumpur Sidoarjo."


texts: Is such usage of negation acceptable in everyday conversation?

texts:
Let's begin with a sentence such as:

  We can't do this any more.

This is the most standard form and grammatically perfect. But I have also seen or heard many times in some informal occasions (maybe that is a fad), esp. in pop lyrics, some sentences like this one

  We can't do this no more

or even

  Ain't got no money in my pocket

I'm most aware that such a "fad" is grammatically incorrect and definitely unacceptable in formal occasions. But, what about using it in some informal occasions like everyday conversations? Would that be acceptable? and, since I'm not a native speaker, I want to ask: would such usage (in informal occasions of course) make me appear less "alien" to those native speakers? Or,is it that I better not use it in any case? Thanks for any advice.


texts: What is an adjective for somebody who thinks they are helping you but actually aren't?

texts: I was wondering what word could describe a person[s] that is trying to help somebody and feels like they are being empathetic towards them, but is trying to be ignored by the other person? I was thinking "falsely-empathetic" or "anti-empathetic", but it sounds to me like the character I'm describing is not trying to help at all?


texts: Difference between "as part of" and "in the context of"?

texts:
At work, we often have to send email broadcasts that need to be in both English and French. My colleague usually prepares the French text and I prepare the English one (or translate hers). Later, we each read both versions.
She's learning English and sometimes she asks me questions about the words I use, their meanings, conjugations etc.
Since I am not a native English speaker, I often have to look those things up to explain the differences but this time I couldn't find what I was looking for.
Here's the example:

"As part of the move planned for 1 September 2020, the department provided you with ..."

My colleague asked me if this wouldn't be better :

"In (the) context of the move planned for 1 September 2020, the department provided you with ..."

I would say that this works as well but, for this example, I am still inclined to go with "As part of". I think that there's a slight difference between the two, which, however, I am not able to explain.
Could you please tell which one's (more) correct, the difference between the two and if there's a completely different way you would start that sentence?
Note: This is my first post and I am not sure if this is the right forum for my question. Please let me know if I should change forums.


texts: What is the difference between "It's sad to see you leave." and "It's sad seeing you leaving."?

texts:
"It's sad to see you leave."
"It's sad seeing you leaving."

I know the first one has a infinitive, and the second one a gerund.
But I'm not sure about the difference of the meaning.
or these two sentences mean exactly same?


texts: Atlantic and Pacific Oceans or Atlantic and Pacific oceans? Jackson and Smith Streets or Jackson and Smith streets? Would "ocean" and "street" in these instances take capital letters as part of a compound proper noun or do they play more of an adjectival role when in plural form?


texts: A question regarding the following usage of the perfect infinitive?

texts:
In regards to the usage of the perfect infinitive I've been wondering if it can be used simultaneously with verbs of perception by way of expressing your notion or belief involving either a person or an object?

Such as in these examples:

" I believe/think/consider him to have done his homework."

"I believe/think/consider the car to have been stolen."

Or would this sort of usage be ungrammatical?

Thank you.


texts:
I was looking for an English equivalent of the Chinese proverb (有缘无分) which describes couples who meet but who do not for whatever reason stay together.

My friend (native speaker, no Chinese backgroud) suggested "have fate without destiny". I am half contented with and half confused with this suggestion.

It seems to make perfect sense while I can't figure out the subtle difference of "fate" vs. "destiny" in this context.

And, why not "have destiny without fate" instead of "have fate without destiny"?


texts:
Having read style guides thoroughly, I am still a little confused about when you don't need a comma after "He says".

I thought you always did?

E.g. He said, "No, I'm not ready."

But sometimes I see things like:

He said "Not now."

Is this a mistake? Is the above ever correct or should there always be a comma?

What about if you wrote something like:

I feel tempted to say "Just drive" like they do in movies.

Would that be correct or do you need a comma?

I believe when "he said" comes AFTER the direct speech, you always need a comma unless there is an exclamation or question mark or something.

E.g. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he said.

Unless you have ? or ! there should always be a comma here, right?

Thank you to anyone who can help!


texts:
In sentences with a superlative, which indefinite pronoun is more accurate: one or anyone?
I'm referring to sentences such as:

"It was the biggest cake one had ever seen."
"It was the biggest cake anyone had ever seen."

I'm assuming they are both correct, so, what is the difference between them in terms of meaning?

Thank you!


texts: Is it appropriate to omit an auxiliary verb in this case?

texts:
In the statement:

  Exports are a virtue and imports are a vice

Would it be okay to omit the second "are"? Thus becoming:

  Exports are a virtue and imports a vice

If it was grammatically incorrect, I wonder if it is still appropriate to omit the verb in a formal setting. I feel like the latter way of phrasing the sentence rolls off the tongue better.


texts: What does "How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb" mean?

texts:
The sub-title of Dr. Strangelove is "or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb" and it's used as a very common snowclone in other contexts.

But what does the sub-title actually mean? What does it imply?

I've seen the excellent film a few times - but I don't see how the audience could have take-away impression that leaves them less worried about the risks of accidental or unintentional nuclear war - and why would it lead someone to develop an appreciation - or love of nuclear weapons?

What confuses me is that in many cases where it's used - especially the original film - such as prose articles, the author's conclusion doesn't match the title which leads me to believe it's used sarcastically or ironically - but given so many people just don't grasp irony (or use the correct definition) I'm not inclined to believe that.

(I'm Asking in English.StackExchange instead of Movies.StackExchange because I'm asking about the language being used rather than how it relates to the film specifically, especially given its use in other contexts, but if you feel this question is posted in the wrong forum please let me know and I'll close this and repost it there instead)


texts:
I am not able to understand the difference between "divert" and "deviate".

https://www.gingersoftware.com/english-online/spelling-book/confusing-words/divert-deviate

This website mentioned above tries to explain but still, the 2 meanings look the same. Even if I Google the answer, this is what WikiDiff snippet says:

"is that deviate is to go off course from; to change course; to change plans while divert is to turn aside from a course."

Hep me out.


texts: What does the phrase 'proverbial couch' mean?

texts:
I'm reading a book in English. About emotional intelligence. When I encountered the "Proverbial Couch" phrase, I really got frustrated because I could not find the meaning in any of the dictionaries. I would appreciate if you guide me. the entire paragraph is:

  Much of self-management comes down to motivation, and you can use the expectations that other people have of you as a powerful force to get you up off the proverbial couch.


texts: how do you describe someone who enjoys intellectual arguments?

texts:
Is there a term that describes someone who enjoys intellectual arguments, e.g. how physicists would like debating about theories they're working with or how people enjoy arguing over the meaning of a literary text? For example,

  This student in my class is ____ - they get along with others while stimulating discussion.

Everything I've found so far seems to have negative connotations. Is there any word that has neutral or positive connotations?


texts: How to describe a person who loves normal room temperature that’s 79 to 84 degrees?

texts:
How can I describe a person who likes a room temperature between 79 and 84 °F [26 and 29 °C]?

The person dislikes any temperature beyond this range.


texts:
I'm very dyslectic, and English is not my native language, I'm looking for the spelling of a word that I'm pretty sure exists, but I'm starting to have my doubts as I can't seem to find it anywhere.
The word sounds like (I think) au-menace, with 'au' as in 'audience', and then menace.
Or maybe it's rather more like awe-menace, where 'awe' is like in 'awesome'.
In any case, the word means, if I'm not mistaken, menacing (an an adjective) but in a sort of looming, impending or imposing way.


texts: What does "toolbox meeting" or "toolbox training" mean? The context is "Incident Report/ Toolbox meeting minutes /signed attendance sheet"


texts:
According to Wikipedia:

  Hypocrisy is the state of falsely claiming to possess virtuous
  characteristics that one lacks. Hypocrisy involves the deception of
  others and is thus a kind of lie. Hypocrisy is not simply failing to
  practice those virtues that one preaches.

According to a "define: hypocrisy" google search:

  the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which
  one's own behaviour does not conform; pretense.

If I am a smoker, and I claim that smoking is terrible, nobody should smoke.

By the wikipedia definition, I would not call this hypocrisy, by the google definition I would. Am I reading the english wrong here?

The smoker still smokes, which does not conform with his said beliefs, however wikipedia says "Hypocrisy is not simply failing to practice those virtues that one preaches."

Can anybody help me really understand these definitions?


texts: is it more correct to say an " at home" service or should I say an "at-home" service?

texts: I have a company that provides services in the patients' own home.  When writing about it do I say "it's an at home service" or do I say an "at-home service"?  I feel perhaps the hyphen makes it easier to read and understand.


texts: What do you call a person who take down notes using their gadgets like laptops or Smart phones?

texts: Curiosity question though my friends called me "nerd Gadgets" because i always take down notes in class using my phone rather than the traditional pen and paper, but i think there is a better word to describe this?


texts: Is ‘round’ without an apostrophe wrong in these cases?

texts:
Sometimes the word around turns into round, e.g., in the following sentence:

  They were going round and round in a circle.

Shouldn’t you put an apostrophe before round in such cases, from the standpoint of English orthography (i.e. the rule that when you omit some part of the original word, you put an apostrophe there)?

For example, it seems to me more natural to put an apostrophe before cause if the word is really because, e.g.:

  I like coffee ’cause it makes me feel great.


texts: Is “cheese-stick operation, manufacturing, building current word?

texts:
I was drawn to the word, “cheese-stick” appearing in the article titled, “The book that didn’t exist” in the Opinion Pages of the New York Times (April 14), which deals with the art and craft of writing. It reads:

  We had collaborated on a project that began a decade earlier. Ruth, a children’s book editor at Random House, was a regular reader of my stories and perhaps the only reader of a manuscript I wrote in my Alphabet City apartment, among my first in New York. It was a sixth-floor walk-up with a cheese-stick operation on the ground floor. A byproduct of cheese-stick manufacturing is a vomit-like smell.

None of CED, OED and Merriam-Webster carries “cheese-stick” although they carry “cheesecake” and “cheese steak.” I can’t find the word on Google Ngram too.

From the context, I surmise “cheese-stick” means “makeshift, sloppy or fragile” operations and construction, but I’m not sure.

What does it mean? Is the word in current use with that meaning?


texts: what are the differences between "be being done" and " be done?"

texts:
I heard from a listening material:
A person said:"And the subtitles probably only give the gist of what's actually being said.."
At the moment, I was thinking like, why did the speaker use "be being said", rather than "be said"?
Could anyone help me distinguish the differences between"be being said" and " be said"?


texts: Why “What if I told you…” and not “What if I tell you…”?

texts:
Exactly in which category of grammar does this type of sentence fall?

  What if I told you …

Why don't we use tell instead of told, as it sounds this event has happened in past. Can anyone explain this in detail?


texts: Meaning of "top" in "to sleep as sound as a top"

texts:
From "The Early Bird", by George MacDonald.

  A little bird sat on the edge of her nest;

  Her yellow-beaks slept as sound as tops;

  Day-long she had worked almost without rest,

  And had filled every one of their gibbous crops;

What is the meaning of tops here?


texts:
"Upon receiving treatment, John's condition recuperated."

Is the word "recuperated" correctly used in this sentence?

Thanks


texts:
I have 2 questions

When to use "myself" and "by myself"
Can I write "my{space}self" instead of "myself"?


texts: Word for someone who receives commission

texts: Is there a word that describes someone who receives commission for something? I am not only referring to a salesman but also to for example VISA that charges 3% commission on credit card sales.


texts: Which is correct between the number of and the numbers of?

texts:
I am making presentation material about mathematical.

  The numbers of events occurred in each sub-interval are independent.

or

  The number of events occurred in each sub-interval are independent.

Which is correct? Thank you for reading my question. :)

X = the number of event occurred in 0s ~ 10s.

Y = the number of event occurred in 10s ~ 13s.

Z = the number of event occurred in 13s ~ 20s.

I want to say "X, Y and Z are stochastically independent".

How can I write the sentence above?


texts:
In the nursery rhyme “This old man” played Knick knack on my knee, etc. I always assumed it was just nonsense rhyming. Was it a real thing?

  This old man, he played one,
  He played knick-knack on my thumb,
  With a knick-knack paddywhack,
  Give the dog a bone,
  This old man came rolling home.


texts:
Is there any difference between the usage of the words "broadcast" and "broadcasting"?

Would it be possible to use "Ministry of Broadcast"? I have found only "Ministry of Broadcasting".


texts: Can the word, “OK’er,” be used in other area than copy editing?

texts:
I recently heard the word,’OK’er” in the New Yorker’s Live video, in which Mary Norris, New Yorker copy editor and author of "How I proofread my way to Philip Roth’s heart,” “Between You & Me on semicolons,” and “Barack Obama’s failings and a doomed attempt to polish Woody Allen’s jokes” spoke about her career as an “OK’er” at the New Yorker.

She describes the job of OK’er as:

  An OK’er is a copy editor, a proof-reader, a line editor and a query proof-reader, all working into one. OKeying is subtle. A lot depend on it. You get to have your own opinions. You get to make suggestions, and your job is to manage the pieces through to the printer, making sure no mistakes are introduced during editorial process.

You can watch the video here.

Because it was in audio, I can't tell whether I should spell it "OKer,""OK'er," or "OK-er." But the word itself sounds quite new to me, though it’s instantly understandable what it means, and I have no question in verbalizing “OK.”

However, neither Oxford Online or Cambridge Online Dictionaries carries this word.

“OK’er” seems a convenient word, but is it only a journalism and publishing jargon, or New Yorker’s own parlance?

Can we use “OK’er” in other category of businesses or subjects in the meaning of an approver, authorizer, or any go-sign givers?


texts: what's meaning of "have you brought over to my place in the morning."

texts:
There's a sentence of dialogue from Walking Dead that confused me:

  have you brought over to my place in the morning.

This is not a interrogative sentence. Why does it put the "have" in the first place of this sentence? What's the grammar here?


texts:
I am looking for the best word for when you have to buy something in increments or in certain quantity sizes.

Minimum billing, minimum charge, minimum buy is typically used when you have to spend a minimum of $X number of dollars per order.  So if the minimum buy is $50 and then unit price is $1 then you might as well buy 50 pieces.

What I am looking for is the best word or words for when items are sold in groups of X, or  packages of X?


texts: Are those sentences with 'solution to' correct?

texts:
One solution to solving unemployment problems is help from governments.
One solution to solve unemployment problems is help from governments.

Thank you very much for your time and answers.


texts: What does "notwithstanding" mean in the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution?

texts:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

According to Dictionary.com, notwithstanding means "nevertheless,yet,anyway", but it does not make sense here to me. Is it some kind of legal use here?


texts:
“We pride ourselves on being law, less ordinary. How are you less ordinary?”

I do not understand how the first sentence makes sense. Anyone care to explain? (Assuming it is not a typo.)


texts:
Normally, I find English people say something like:

He is sleeping.

He goes to sleep early.

But occasionally, I found something like: "I have been to sleep 3 times during the lesson." (Michael Swan and Catherine Walter, The Good Grammar Book).

What does "be to sleep" mean in this case?


texts: The differences between "tackle", "deal with", "handle" and "cope"

texts: I am confused when to use those verbs as their meanings are similar. Are there any differences? I appreciate your help.


texts:
I'm having trouble understanding this sentence from a book on system theory, which reads like a modern version of Euclid's Elements:

  Intuitively, we would expect the concept of a system to involve some
  kind of inter-relation between the percepts it generates, and which
  then become identified with corresponding relationships between the
  external qualities which generated them.

The idiomatic construction would be "inter-relation between x and y" but the meaning of "inter-relation between the percepts" seems to be "a set of relations among a set of percepts" because there is no noun y to follow. Here is my attempt at a paraphrase, with parentheses to identify nouns:

The concept of a system involves
(a set S of
  (relations among
    (a set of
      (percepts generated by the system))))
such that S becomes "identified with"
(a set of
  (relations among
    (a set of
      (external qualities generated the percepts)))).

Does this seem right?


texts:
In the following examples, we have used the prepositions "in" before "suburbs" and "on" before " outskirts". Is there any explation for this usage?

I live in the suburbs of London.
I live on the outskirts of London.


texts: Usage of this sentence whether comma is placed in the right place?

texts:
Is it right to say

"updates from the onsite call, we had this morning with the client"
(Updates listed below)