texts:
I'm writing a PhD dissertation in Physics in the United States. I would say I'm fluent in English, but it's not my first language.
Recently, I sent a draft of my dissertation to my adviser, and there was one recurring sentence structure that he fixed every time. Here's a pretty characteristic example. I've simplified the example to reduce the number of clauses and jargon words.

A number of constraints is applied to the likelihood function. This allows to obtain pulls on the nuisance parameters.

I've emphasized the part that he corrected, in most cases to a gerund, as in "This allows obtaining".
What is special about this construction in English that precludes the use of an infinitive?


texts: "That is what I told her." "That was what I told her." Meanings are different?

texts:
(1)That is what I told her.
(2)That was what I told her.

Are their meanings different??
And I found that some people on the net(not english native speakers) said using "that" with past tense, using "this" with present tense. For example

(3)that was what I told her.
(4)this is what I told her.

Is that true?? If that is correct, as an English learner, I still can not tell the difference of their meanings by myself, so I think if someone could answer and explain a little bit about these qusetions, it will be great, helpful and awesome!


texts:
From the definition found at Merriam-Webster and elsewhere, it seems that to ravel has completely opposite meanings; i.e. it means to unravel, to disentangle as well as to entangle.

What's going on here?


texts:
I'm reading The Good, The Bad and The Smug by Tom Holt. It's a British-style fantasy/comedy in the Hitchhiker's tradition, and is good so far (page 89). But, something is throwing me: often a character will respond to a question by saying a single word which is written in the book as "Mphm". It isn't a single person saying this; I've counted at least three, so it must be something everyone's supposed to understand. Unfortunately, the set of those who understand doesn't include me.
My attempts to pronounce it founder; either I come up with "mm-p-'hmmm" (if the "p" is pronounced separately), or "mm-'fmmm" (if the "ph" is pronounced as "f").
My best guess is that it's the equivalent of my saying "Mhmm", pronounced "Mmmm-hmmm", and meaning "yes". I still have no idea of how it is to be pronounced, though.
Is my guess on the meaning correct? How would this be pronounced? And, any idea of how this spelling originated?
Edit: here's some example text from the book. Norman is objecting to being coerced into being an experimental subject:

"Now come on," he said reasonably. "Where's your scientific method? We can't just run bull-headed into a manned test programme, we've got to work up to it gradually, in controlled phases. Scientifically," he added hopefully.
"Scientifically?" Derek queried.
"Mphm." Norman nodded firmly.

Edit: I've been playing around with Google Ngram Viewer. Although there is slight usage of lower-case "mphm" in the mid-1800s, uppercase "Mphm" only starts being used in the 1900s, with the general "English" corpus having its biggest peak at 1917 (0.00000236% of words). But, if you switch to the "English Fiction" corpus, there are no usages of the lowercase "mphm", and the peak is at 1904 (0.0000128%, or five times higher).
And, if you try Google Books, you'll find a number of uses just like the ones I found in the Tom Holt story (although a lot of them are from the same World War I story).


texts: It will be done at that point in the future vs It will have been done at that point

texts:
I am struggling with understanding the difference here:

It will be done at that point in the future.
It will have been done at point in the future.

I know in theory what future perfect tense means but here I cannot see the difference.


texts: Representing "The Manatee Problem" (Word representing or describing a problem for which there exists incomplete knowledge to solve it)

texts:
Two folks are asked the following question: "How do we best help the manatees?"
Person 1 says, "We need to focus on the supply chain."
Person 2 says, "What the hell's a manatee?"

A math professor of mine described the problem above as the "Manatee Problem" -- a problem in which the student simply doesn't even understand what's being asked, or doesn't understand the symbology of the problem.
One example word that might answer this is "Problem X is Y", where Y is the word I'm looking for.
Edit: one answer I've found is a "wicked problem", but this adjective "wicked" feels insufficient because it denotes when the constraints / obstacles to solving the problem are unclear or changing, whereas the word I'm seeking is one that communicates the knowledge necessary for the problem is pretty clear but simply unknown.


texts: Is "bullet" from "bite the bullet" an exaggerated metaphor?

texts: I've learnt about this idiom and its meaning , but i don't know about its common use since i think the word "bullet" is used as an exageration for a painful task or or an unpleasant situation. What is the appropiate way to use it?


texts:
I was reading an article and came across this sentence:

  “Much wow, Bercow hid his opposition to Brexit so very well when he was Speaker.,” Mark Wallace, executive editor of ConservativeHome, tweeted.

This quote is punctuated with a period and a comma. Is this a mistake?

When I was reading on English grammar, I was told to punctuate quotes in the following way:

  "Much wow, Bercow hid his opposition to Brexit so very well when he was speaker," tweeted Mark Wallace, executive editor of ConservativeHome.

I did change the structure around, though. Perhaps it is necessary to put a period before the comma when using their word order?


texts: Eat a roast chicken but not a roast cow?

texts: Why in English do you normally say I'll eat a roast chicken, but not I'll eat a roast cow or roast pig? Is it the cut of meat that determines the noun, or just an another English idiosyncrasy?


texts:
Word that means hold a certain individual up as an inspiring example?
I think more people identify with and _______ joker than batman these days.
Feel free to rearange the sentence if n


texts: Single Preposition/descriptor for Multiple Subjects versus Multiple Ones

texts:
Could anybody please tell which one is correct?

  The President is going to give speeches in Belgium, in
  the Netherlands, in Luxembourg and in France

versus

  The President is going to give speeches in Belgium, the Netherlands,
  Luxembourg and France


texts: What does "he is kind of big deal" mean?

texts:
What does he is kind of big deal mean?

In this dictionary, it means an important person

In another dictionary, it means A sarcastic way of referring to some one who has had an incredible run of good fortune.

I am living in Australia, big deal also adds some sort of arrogant in it. So, he is kind of big deal also means he thinks he is important person and allow himself to be arrogant


texts: Expressing the sentence with clause: "X is a vector. The i_th element of X is ..."

texts:
I want to express "X is a vector. The i_th element of X is ..." with a clause. Which one is right:

X is a vector, the i_th element of which is ...
X is a vector, of which the i_th element is ...


texts: Is "It won't let me not." grammatically correct?

texts:
I found myself saying the following sentence the other day:

  I always fasten my seat belt because my car won't let me not — it starts beeping loudly.

If I were to use allow instead of let, I would say:

  I always fasten my seat belt because my car won't allow me not to — it starts beeping loudly.

The latter sentence sounds natural to me because of the additional to that makes it clear what not refers to. Since let takes the bare infinitive, I suppose that using to in the first sentence would be incorrect:

  I always fasten my seat belt because my car won't let me not to — it starts beeping loudly.

Wouldn't it?

What would you say about my first sentence? The words "won't let me not" sound strange to my ear. Is it grammatical? Is it clumsy? Is it perfectly natural? What is the general rule of using let + negative verb with the actual verb omitted?


texts: Is the term "baby kitten" / "baby puppy" superfluous?

texts: If "kitten" is a juvenile domestic cat, and "puppy" is a juvenile dog, are "baby kitten" or "baby puppy" superfluous or just extremely specific?


texts: What is the origin of “heart goes out to”?

texts: As this post is made as Hurricane Irene's in the news, it seems this week’s most popular phrase is “my heart goes out to everyone affected”. How did this expression get started?


texts: Looking for a word starting with a voiced 's'

texts:
Okay English Language, I come to you in an hour of despair. I had some late-night discussions yesterday about English pronunciation, which resulted in a bet, and the stakes are high. It basically boils down to the following question:

Is there any word starting with an 's' that's being pronounced like a /z/?

A zero, zoo, zipper, ... just with an s. I was pretty confident that there had to be, because there's an exception to almost every rule (like the rule that an 's' at the beginning of a word is pronounced voiceless ...).

Still, I haven't managed to find one so far. I already looked in The Chaos, but no luck even there. I am out my wits and hope Stack Exchange can save me once again. Thanks a lot in advance to my noble hero/ine!


texts: Are there simple rules for use of “in”, “on”, “at”, “from” and “for”?

texts:
I often get confused how to use
in, on, at, from and for.
Examples:

I have a phone in/on/at my bag.
Meet me at/in/on this hotel.

They sound kind of right but I'm not sure which  is correct.
Is there a simple way to remember how to use those?


texts:
Which is better (and why)?

  Which feature should I attach this task to?

or

  To which feature should I attach this task?


texts: Metaphor, simile, or idiom for stating that something improved one’s self-confidence

texts:
What’s a nice and quirky metaphor, simile, or idiom for saying that something improved my self-confidence and made me dream higher, for example in the following context?

  These competitions not only provided a platform to test myself, but they also [improved my self confidence, and spurred me to dream higher].


texts: Can a junior "appreciate" a senior's work

texts: Is it OK for a junior( a student or an official) to say "I really appreciate your work" to his/ her senior?


texts: Meaning of "cry creek" and "cock of the game"

texts:
I'm reading an excerpt from John Lyly (1554–1606), and there are some phrases that I can't find anything about on the net or elsewhere. Here is the context:

  Though Cutio be as hot as a toast, yet Euphues is as cold as a clock; though he be a cock of the game, yet Euphues is content to be craven and cry creek.

Does anybody know what the highlighted phrases mean?


texts: Can one get away with using the root "surl" from the adjective "surly" in a sentence?

texts:
It always strikes me as odd when an adjective that ends in y doesn't have a dictionary defined root noun (funny≈fun; angry≈anger; silly≠sill; etc).
More specifically, I'm trying to write a lyric, and a noun form of surly [intolerant/unpleasant/condescending], with the rhyme scheme keeping in "url" sound (intent to loosely rhyme with "world"), again, like the would-be word "surl" would be perfect. I know that in music you can get away with some grammatical/linguistic finagling, but as it seems nonexistent in dictionaries, I'm hesitant to use it. In anyone's opinion, is it understandable/acceptable, for use in either a lyric or sentence?


texts:
Somebody asked me about the usage of the word distance in a sentence. I have my own ideas about it, particularly the difference between at a distance of and for a distance of.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid that the whole answer is in fact connected to something else: a bit of knowledge of road markings perhaps. So I hesitate to talk about only the grammar aspect.

My friend wants to express this:

  Do not paint 50 m on the right and left sides from the ends of the
  ramp, and plus the width of the ramp.

My friend thinks she can say this:

  Do not paint the edge line of the road along every ramp at a distance
  of 50 m on the right and left turns.

This is how far I’ve gotten in reconstructing it in my head:

  Do not paint the edgelines of the road for a distance of 50 m on both
  sides of a ramp

Am I still on the right track?


texts: A scientific term for 'beginning of sampling in a signal'

texts: I have a Signal of 3 seconds. At different times I start sampling(extract samples) . I need a word  that refers to the beginning of each sampling in the signal. I thought of starting point but I am looking for a more accurate term, that sounds more scientific.


texts: Can a subordinate conjunction join a participial phrase to an independent clause?

texts: In the sentence, "They were thrilled after hearing about the new store," is the word "after" a subordinating conjunction joining the participial phrase "hearing about the new store" to the independent clause "They were thrilled. I thought the rule was that subordinating conjunctions join clauses.


texts: A word that means/defines to live a philosophical life[style]?

texts:
So this is a continuation of sorts to a thread I started a while ago about *a word that means/defines
 The Converse of Philosophy... *

The question is... If the etymology of bio- is [Greek bio-, comb. form of bios "one's life, course or way of living, lifetime"], and philosophy is [love of wisdom], then would biosophy be a variation that could be used to define/characterize a life of wisdom/living a life of wisdom?

bio- etymology source


texts: Is there a word for a system that requires interaction from two persons before an event happens

texts:
For example, when administering lethal injections, there are usually two buttons (each on its own harmless) that both need to be pressed by a person before it is administered.

Is there a name for such a system? I'm talking about a system that requires two people to interact to trigger the event, not a system that absolves one of them of guilt.


texts:
When the rancher spends that 8 hours producing potatoes, she spends 8 hours less producing meat...

Is this usage of less correct, or should fewer be used instead?


texts: Name for historic style of mapping mountains as "mole mounds"?

texts:
I am referring to a graphic solution for depicting mountains in cartography that was popular I believe in years 1500s - 1700s.
Example from 1699: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b1/New_Caledonia_in_Darien2.jpg/450px-New_Caledonia_in_Darien2.jpg

Anyone know how they are called?


texts: What would be the appropriate word for this project title: "optimal", "optimum", or "ideal"?

texts: I'm looking to create an appropriate title for a science fair project and I'm questioning which of these three words would be most grammatically appropriate and correct: "optimal","optimum" or "ideal". "Creating the Optimal Computer for Literacy at Half the Cost", "Creating the Optimum Computer for Literacy at Half the Cost", or "Creating the Ideal Computer for Literacy at Half the Cost"? Any suggestions are appreciated.


texts: When using online dictionaries to verify word meanings, do different geographical regions turn to different dictionaries?

texts: Does anyone have a good map of which online dictionary will most likely apply to a given English speaking community?


texts: "At the beginning" or "during the beginning"?

texts:
Are both expressions below valid and equivalent?

"At the beginning …"
"During the beginning …"

"During the beginning …" seems wrong to me.


texts: Word that Describes the Motion of an Accordion

texts: I'm looking for a word that describes the oscillating motion of a bellows, like in an accordion. Oscillation doesn't quite cut it, because I'm also looking to get a sense of the air flow. A friend suggested "bacillation", which unfortunately isn't a real word. "Bronchillation" seems like a good word too, as it has "bronchus" as a root, but that isn't a real word either.


texts:
Is this correctly punctuated?

  He went to the bar to drown his sorrows; he is there now, probably drinking vodka.


texts: She had given me such a _______ (verbose?) reply that I could not not helped her.


texts:
I've found this definition of triage:

  "The process of sorting people based on their need for immediate medical treatment as compared to their chance of benefiting from such care."

So I can understand that triaging an issue list means giving some priorities to the items and sorting the list.

But what does triaging an issue mean? Giving it a low priority or the other way round? I suppose the former but haven't found any evidence for it. All the dictionaries I've found deal with triaging some set only.


texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe the peculiar style of some ancient Egyptian art, where the body is shown frontally (with all four limbs and appendages clearly visible), but the feet and face are depicted in profile. And it can't be Egyptian, because the text I'm writing is set in a fantasy/sci-fi setting where the narrator would not be aware of Egypt.

Either a single noun describing the style, or an adjective describing it as '[ADJECTIVE] profile' or '[ADJECTIVE] style' etc would be good.


texts: Is there a metalanguage term for using the correct verb for an action?

texts: For example, we say "play a game" rather than "do a game." Is there a term for this kind of agreement? (i.e. not subject-verb agreement but rather why we stylistically use "play" when "do" to some extent suffices?)


texts: How to decribe this type of relationship?

texts: What is the word or words to describe a relationship between two persons who kow each other very well without making any effort to speak things out and that they just know that the other one holds the same thought as he/she does?


texts: Word to Describe One Who Speaks Politely but with Conviction

texts: Imagine you are at a debate on a controversial topic. One of the speakers presents her case straightforwardly and with conviction; there is no doubting her stance on the issue. At the same time, you are struck by how politely and tactfully she addresses this divisive topic. Is there a single word that might describe such a combination of traits?


texts: A word to describe "people I care about"

texts: I am looking for a word that describes people who are important to me or whom I care about. They could be family, friends, or just people I adore.  Is there any word for them or anything that comes close?  Basically, I want to give a one-word title to my own public list of people.


texts: Using the word "guess" in a scientific paper

texts:
I wonder if one can use the word guess in a scientific paper in the following context:

"... to provide the best guess on answer response time ..."

Would the usage of prediction or estimate be more appropriate in this context?

Also, the sentence where the guess is used is in the introduction which is aimed to be read by people without much knowledge on the subject but with background in science and, probably, a PhD degree.

Thank you.


texts: What is the difference of “a troubling cut to Social Security” from “a troubling cut of Social Security”?

texts:
The Home page of today's (April 11) New York Times carries an article titled ‘In the President’s Budget’ written by their Editorial Board, which is followed by the lead copy -

  “The plan for 2014 includes a troubling cut to Social Security and
  other better ideas that put Republicans on the spot.”

Though this might be a primitive question, as usual, from a non native English speaker, if I replace the preposition ‘to’ in “a troubling cut to Social Security” with ‘of,’ what difference of meaning would come out from the original line?


texts:
I am bilingual and, from time to time, I realize certain words are missing in English. I just wanted to check whether there was a word for "doing the dishes."

(If anyone is curious, the word in Korean is  [sur-guh-jee] which means to do the dishes, and nothing else)


texts: Is this sentence of Vitalik Buterin correct?

texts:
I was reading A Philosophy of Blockchain Validation of Vitalik Buterin. The following sentence strikes me as odd:

Data availability checks do rely on a very conservative assumption that there exists at least some small number of honest nodes somewhere in the network continues to apply, though the good news is that this minimum honesty threshold is low, and does not grow even if there is a very large number of attackers.

I would humbly restate the sentence in the following manner:

Data availability checks do rely on a very conservative assumption continuing to apply, namely that there exists at least some small number of honest nodes somewhere in the network, though the good news is that this minimum honesty threshold is low, and does not grow even if there is a very large number of attackers.

or would make it even more concise:

Data availability checks do rely on a very conservative assumption that there exists at least some small number of honest nodes somewhere in the network, though the good news is that this minimum honesty threshold is low, and does not grow even if there is a very large number of attackers.

Is Buterin's sentence correct? If not, what is not correct in it? Do my attempts of correcting the sentence make sense to y'all?
P.S. This is not a proofreading request. The relevant text was published five weeks prior to this question.


texts:
I understand the meaning of "to jar" (thank to the dictionaries) but "to jar to life" makes me confused and puzzled.

Is it something near to "sprang to life"?

You can meet this phrase in Google:

Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters: I jarred to life,releasing my gripon Courtney.
The Scene by R.M. Gilmore: “D?” She touched my elbow, and I jarred to life. “Yeah?”


texts:
I'm trying to find a suitable verb or verb-phrase to convey the meaning of making something more strict.

Example:

  The regulator ________ the rules governing party A's promotion
  practices.


texts: "these days" - what is the correct usage/meaning?

texts:
Recently whilst writing a report I typed the following sentence:

  "Funerals still represent a celebration of the life of the deceased, but these days families and friends often use the time to celebrate life using popular music, film and media."

The spell check immediately underlined the word 'days' and claimed it needed an apostrophe after the 's', creating days'.
I always assumed the term 'these days' referred to 'recent times' or what is commonplace at present.  It seems the spell check takes it as the 'families and friends' that belong to the days being discussed.
Which is correct?


texts:
Someone said there's only nice shot and there's no such thing as nice shoot.

While another person told me nice shoot is just like nice kick where the shoot/kick is a verb.

p.s. why is this 'off-topic'? aren't this question about the 'word choice or usage' of an English phrase?


texts: What are the connotations of "there" in "hello/hi there"

texts:
I'm an ESL speaker and I'm not completely familiar with the underlying meaning conveyed when adding there to a greeting such as

  Hello there

compared to just

  Hello

(punctuation omitted for simplicity, but feel free to analyse with an exclamation mark/comma)

or with "Hi (there)".

What does there imply?


texts:
I am lost with the rule that noun-gerund compounds do not get a hyphen if used as nouns.

  Example: He liked novel reading.

Is it correct not to use a hyphen between novel and reading here?

I looked up "name dropping" in MWebster and they spell it with a hyphen. That would mean:

  Example: Name-dropping is a famous practice.

What is the rule here? Or is it a style question?

And, I am in the academic field of linguistics. There are some compounds that I have never ever seen in nonhyphenated forms but which would technically go without a hyphen according to the rule.

  Example: The process of meaning-making is complex.

What to do in these cases? Stick with the rule or with frequency of use?


texts: Was the BrEng term "coloured" derogatory in the 1970s?

texts:
SAM
  Look... I owe it to myself to say this to you, okay? Leave Tony Crane. Just go far away from him. He's gonna ask you to marry him and he's gonna make you a business partner.

  EVE
  Is that what this is all about? Does it bother you that much? A coloured bird with a bit of power?

  BBC One's Life on Mars series 2, episode 1

For those who have not watched the BBC TV series a very brief synopsis:
After an accident, Sam Tyler a Detective Chief Inspector in 2006, wakes up in 1973. Now a detective inspector, he has a love-hate relationship with DCI Gene Hunt—one of the most politically incorrect characters in the history of British television. Sam Tyler doesn't know if he's mad, in a coma or if he's travelled back in time. All he wants is to go back home to the future.

In view of the fact that the TV series is set in 1973, a time when sexism, racism, and homophobia was rife and the British general public had only started condemning those acts of behaviour.  I was taken aback to hear the following lines:
Does it bother you that much? A coloured bird with a bit of power?

I was only ten years old in 1976 and I remember the noun Black (or adjective black) was considered derogatory, almost a taboo, whereas coloured was the "polite" term used to describe anyone whose skin was dark-coloured. But childhood memories can play tricks, so I'm not absolutely certain.

Was the term coloured derogatory in the 1970s? Did Eve call herself "coloured" because she knew it was offensive or did British black people call themselves that?

Nowadays, I know it's the other way round, and I'm pretty sure  that Benedict Cumberbatch does too. But what about the 1970s? Shouldn't the actress line have been:

  Does it bother you that much? A black bird with a bit of power?


texts:
Just wondering which verb tense would be correct. It's fiction written in the past tense.

1) James fired his gun over the couch we hid behind.

2) James fired his gun over the couch we’d hidden behind.

3) James fired his gun over the couch we were hiding behind.

Thanks!


texts: Term for a firm used as a public front to hide an illegal operation

texts:
What do you call a firm used as a public front to hide an illegal operation?

This would be a term for, for e.g.,

A law firm used to hide a money laundering operation;
A DVD corner shop where pirated films can be traded;
A chemical plant concealing a large meth lab;
A museum where secret slave auctions are held;
A motorcycle shop where illegal guns are sold; and
A legal casino where illegal gambling is secretly held in a back room club.


texts: is there a rule that simple coordinator "and" is changed for "or" in negations?

texts: For instance: Sally can play the guitar and the piano. Martin can't play the guitar or the piano.


texts: i will visit him by early next week or i will visit him by earlier next week?

texts:
Could anyone do the favor of sharing their thoughts on the following?
Which is correct? -
"I will visit him by earlier next week"
or
"I will visit him by early next week".
which is I need to visit him the beginning of next week, so can I use earlier next week/early next week to refer to 'the beginning of next week'? or are there other expressions?
I believe the context is self-explanatory ..it has no different meaning in the backdrop.
Thanks


texts: 'eat extra two apples' or 'eat additional two apples'?

texts: Should I say 'We want to eat extra two apples' or 'We want to eat additional two apples' ? OR both are correct? Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks.


texts:
Wiktionary lists "fou" [1] as meaning "Crazy", which most likely comes from the French word "fou" [2] meaning "crazy".

The French word is said to come from the Old French "fol" [3] that means "mad, insane, foolish, silly". "Fol" is said to come from the Latin "follis" [4] which, based on wiktionary data, means "bellows", "purse, sack, money bag", etc.

None of the definition of "follis" seems to relate to crazy, foolish, mad or insane whatsoever. Therefore, what is the exact origin of "fou" in the sense of "crazy" OR how did it evolve from "follis" to "fou"?

[1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fou#English
[2] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fou#French
[3] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fol#Old_French
[4] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/follis#Latin

Edit 2018-07-14: The definition was wrong on Wiktionary from 2010 to 2013. As for the title question, the origin of the word "fou" is described in @Lambie's answer in more details.


texts:
As I was reading the writing of a student, I saw this sentence:
The teachers seem not to be perfectly trained for this situation, neither the students.
I know 'neither do the students' is correct, but I was wondering if 'neither the students' is also grammatically correct. I could not find a definite answer to this question in several grammar books. I'd appreciate your help. Thanks.


texts: Not so much as [something] as [something else]

texts:
Consider the sentence:

  "She sees him not so much as her uncle as her friend."

Is this sentence correct? I feel something is missing, or perhaps I am disturbed by the extra 'as'. Compare with:

  "He is not so much her friend as (he is) her uncle."

What do you suggest?


texts:
I want you to be quiet./I help her to carry all the boxes./I forbade him to enter my building./I advised him not to smoke.

I think the first two to-infinitives are object complements, and the other two are objects. Am I right?


texts: Is it right to combine past and present in the same sentence?

texts:
I am defining an instrument but am not sure if it is correct to combine past and present tense at the same time:

  Ssdd is the first ever instrument, launched in 1998, which was
  specifically
       designed to measure the gmn at Ka-band at global scale.

Is the usage of is and was correct?


texts:
"I'll always remember this rule as if I had just learned it"

Do you consider this sentence grammatically correct?
The main clause refers to the future, so I guess that the Past Simple would convey the same meaning and would at the same time be grammatical. Nonetheless, the choice of the appropriate tense is problematic here.
Which one would you go for, and why?


texts: What's a word for a doppelgänger only in one's shlemazlut?

texts: I have a friend who has exactly the same accidents, injuries, mess ups, failings, etc., as I but I can't find a word in English (or otherwise) for it. Physically, we're opposite as night and day. But when something goes wrong, I can match story for story.


texts: Where did "God helps those who help themselves" originate?

texts:
I've always heard it said that "God helps those who help themselves."

From a Biblical perspective this doesn't make much sense to me (since I've also heard that we should rely on God for everything). However, it's a pretty popular phrase.

Where did the phrase originate? Is it a Biblical reference or is there no relation to Christianity?


texts: Omitting 'it is' or 'they are' after 'because'?

texts:
I've noticed that various academic authors have a habit of leaving out the reference to a subject after the word 'because', presumably because it is deemed to be implied by the sentence (NB I just did the opposite by retaining it).

Some examples:

"...all wrongs in law are prohibited wrongs and are thus wrong in the same way and for the same reason — because prohibited."
"These are humanly meaningful because imputable to shared human norms of conduct."

In both cases, the phrase "they are" is omitted after "because". This is also sometimes done in the singular, e.g.

"He pulls it off by effectively invoking a collective conception of femininity as insufficiently rational because excessively intuitive."

Personally I really dislike the omission because it feels to me as though it disrupts the rhythm of the sentence, curtailing it and leaving the referent 'hanging' (even if, with a moment's thought, it or they are in reality perfectly clear).

Does anyone have any insight into this phenomenon? Interestingly, all the examples I can think of are published by OUP, which made me wonder if it's in part connected with their editorial style (but that's just a speculation).


texts:
Does the term “biped” or “quadruped” refer to the incidental characteristics of a creature, or the paradigmatic characteristics of that kind of creature?

Would a human amputee be a biped because humans in general are bipeds by nature?


texts: What is the term for, "Don't make it a thing if it isn't a thing"

texts:
Hoping to find the exact term for situations like the following:

Example:
An online profile mentions that the person is drama-free. If they were actually drama-free, they would not need to mention it in the first place.

Another example:
You walk into an interview and immediately tell your potential employer that you are not a robot.

Another example: Mentioning that the project details are subject to OPSEC is a violation of OPSEC.

I've heard several phrases that allude to the concept:
"Don't make it a thing if it isn't a thing."
"Keep it self-evident."

It's an oddly-specific type of catch-22 where it's taboo to bring something up in conversation without the other person becoming suspicious as to why you even mentioned it.

Similar concept explained here (tvtropes - don't explain the joke)


texts: "The last thing I want is..." vs "The last thing I wanted was..."

texts:
For the two phases "the last thing I want is..." and "the last thing that I wanted was", can you give some examples of usage and explanations in what situation when you want to use one over the other?

Thanks


texts: Should names of styles or genres be capitalized?

texts: Musical styles, for instance.  Specifically I am dealing with choosing "blues" or "Blues"? I assume it would be the same for visual art styles.


texts: What is the difference when we change the position of adverbs?

texts:
Would you possibly readily elaborate the reason why you do not say

  A book is there on the table.

instead of

  There is a book on the table.

?


texts: A blinding light / blinding sunlight / a blinding sunlight

texts:
"Mornings came and cast a blinding sunlight over everything, and he felt like nothing worthwhile could be accomplished."

For some reason, I feel like "a blinding light" is ok, but if its sunlight, then I should drop the "a" and write "cast blinding sunlight", but I'm not sure why I feel this way.

Can anyone offer some enlightenment?

edit - alternate phrasing, closer to being a literal translation: "Mornings came without warning, flooding the day with a strong sun, and he felt like nothing worthwhile could be accomplished."

I would still like an answer to the technical question of whether I should drop the "a", but would also appreciate knowing if anyone thinks option #2 is a better choice.


texts:
while "Kernel" vs. "core" clears up the meaning with regard to fruits/plants, I'm a bit confused as to the usage of these terms in IT. Are there certain rules, as to why the e.g. linux kernel is not a core, and CPU cores aren't kernels?

Or as another example, in insurance, the program or service calculating premiums, is called 'calculation kernel' (or calculation-engine, but that is not the point of my question), not 'calculation core'.

I'm sure there are other examples where the apparent synonyms cannot be used interchangeably. Is my view incorrect? Or what are the rules pertaining to the usage of 'core' vs. 'kernel'?


texts:
I need to find some synonym for block or some other word to say that some thing is not happening but I need that word to start with U. I want to express that a protein is blocking a cellular process.

I can't find it, is there any?


texts:
Homeland security, an umbrella term for counter-terrorism, counter-espionage and the like has a distinctly American feel. Here I mean the concept, rather than the specific "Department for Homeland Security".

Is there a term with the same meaning that's used in the UK?


texts: "That's okay" to mean "no" or "don't bother"?

texts:
Growing up, I became accustomed to using the phrase "that's okay" to mean "no" or "don't bother."  For example:

  Waitress: Yous guys want any dessert?Patron [shaking head to mean no]: That's okay.Waitress: Here's the check then, hun.

In other words, the patron is really trying to say, "That's okay, but I am already full."

Later on in life, when traveling to areas with other dialects of English, I was often met with confusion when trying to use that phrase to mean "no".  When I got to thinking about it, the phrase itself is quite ambiguous, because it is unclear to what "that" refers.  In fact, "that's okay" could very well be taken to mean "yes" in the above scenario, if interpreted literally.  I have since taught myself to avoid this usage.

Having first learned English in the Philadelphia dialect, I attributed this weird usage as a regional fluke, like our use of "anymore", et al.  However, I have since heard other people in other dialects using this phrase to mean "no".

Questions: Is this usage of "that's okay" a regionalism?  Is its etymology as simple as just dropping the end of the phrase, e.g., "That's okay, but I am already full," or is its etymology more complex?

Edit: This is completely anecdotal, but I seemed to meet the most resistance to this construction on the West coast of the US, and particularly in the Pacific Northwest, e.g.,

  Waitress: Would you like any dessert?Me [shaking head to mean no]: That's okay.Waitress: Does that mean "yes" or "no"‽


texts:
Could you help me with the meaning of the phrase “bound together by some necessity of nerve that excluded him” in the extract below? What does "nerve" mean here? Does it mean "courage" or "nervous system?" Please help me.

  “...The boy shrugged and got up. He walked off, across the room to the screen door where he stood looking out. At once Bishop climbed down off his chair and started after him, putting on his hat as he went. Tarwater stiffened when the child approached but he did not move and Rayber watched as the two of them stood there side by side, looking out the door --the two figures, hatted and somehow ancient, bound together by some necessity of nerve that excluded him. He was startled to see the boy put his hand on Bishop's neck just under his hat, open the door and guide him out of it...”


texts: We're working on some type of e-learning system in which users will be provided with tutorials and exercises. To title the tutorial materials, I was looking for an appropriate term/word but I could only come up with tutorial content. Despite its meaningfulness, I think there should be more appropriate choices. What are those?


texts:
Which preposition should be used in this sentence?

  Thank you for your continued support of the John Q. Public scholarship
  Thank you for your continued support to the John Q. Public scholarship


texts:
How to say I may mislead you again:

because of my poor English,
in a good manner
the responsibility is mine (no need to speak out, just let she surely know this).

i.e., I'm afraid of my poor English...


texts: A more elegant way of writing "attempt to replicate them" for Teaching Statement

texts:
I'm writing up my Teaching Statement for an Assistant Professor position in the sciences. Because all I do is read and write science, I have no elegance in my writing at all! I'm trying to make the last sentence sound better:

  I have been fortunate enough to work with some great mentors in my
  life journey thus far. Integrity, compassion, and selfless care for
  students were role-modeled for me on a day-to-day basis, teaching me
  things far beyond academics. It has been a life-long goal to attempt to
  replicate them.

I'm trying to express that it has been a life-long goal of mine to pass-on what great mentors in my life have done for me to future students. They took me under their wings and provided important role-modeling, perspective, and guidance in my life when I was a drifting early-twenty-something male.

Is there a nice and succinct way of writing this? Is there a phrase or an expression that has the same meaning as the highlighted text in the provided context? Is there a word that could replace "attempt to replicate them" to make it more concise?


texts: What is a word for "uncomfortable situation"?

texts: Pretty straight forward. Looking for a word that means uncomfortable situation but in a positive connotation, not like danger.


texts:
We say apocryphal when something is well known, but is probably not true.

I was just wondering if there is a word that describes something that is widely known as only "a rumour" but is probably really true. Is there such a word?


texts: How To Determine "Adjective" Or " Adverb" After The Noun?

texts:
The way ahead is busy.
This is the only way possible.

How to determine which one "adjective" and which one "adverb" between "ahead" and "possible"?


texts: A verb that means making dimples in dough with fingertips

texts:
Is there a verb or baker's term which describes the act of pressing dough with your fingertips to make dimples? Is there a more succinct way of expressing this action?

Is the term dimple the most appropriate?


texts: "Today I've darkened 59 appropriate circles"?

texts:
Is this a proper past tense?

  Today I've darkened 59 appropriate circles.


texts:
Context: software company training documents.

We commonly use the phrase "go live" when talking about making a system operational. I'm fine with using it as two separate words, but it becomes awkward when it's an adjective. E.g. Preparing for your go live transition. Am I focusing on this too much, or is that potentially confusing? I've seen this phrase written as go live, go-live, Go Live, and Go-Live (all in one Microsoft article, actually). I'd appreciate some opinions.


texts: Which preposition to use with "juxtaposed"

texts:
Are things juxtaposed to or juxtaposed with other things?

  The slimy seaweed was startling, juxtaposed to/with the hot smooth sand.
  I moved the painting to the other wall so that it would be juxtaposed to/with the sculpture that inspired it.

Does the side-by-side nature of juxtapose dictate this, or does it depend on the perceived relationship between the elements?


texts: Why does this abbreviation "tl;dr" have a punctuation mark in it?

texts:
The abbreviated form of "Too long; didn't read" is tl;dr. To me it kind of defeats the purpose of typing an abbreviation quickly, if I have to type the ; key too.

Why is tl;dr more common than TLDR, and usually used with ";"? I have read the wiki discussion but am not too clear on this.

SNAFU comes to mind as one which could be SN-AFU. Are there any other such abbreviations which have punctuations in them?


texts: What is a word to describe the action of someone who repeatedly says a mantra to internalize it? for example "yes I can ,yes I can "


texts: Another definition for 'to go on a diet'

texts: What other words or expression could be used to say to go/ be on a diet,  meaning to follow healthy nutrition rules mainly to lose weight.


texts: Is there a word for people who directly report to me in office?

texts:
There are about 10-12 co-workers who directly report to me in office. It's a private company but of very large size.

They are Junior to me in terms of experience and also are below me in Organisation hierarchy.  Also I am their manager/boss who is responsible for their annual appraisals in company.

I need to refer those people in many meetings and emails. I generally tend to use word "subordinate" to refer them, but I am not sure if that is the right word to use.

I am not sure "reportee" is valid English word.

Is there a word to for people who directly reports to me in office?


texts:
Can any one tell me that when we start a sentence with If then? I came across this one.

  If then a practical end must be assigned to a university course,I say it is that of training good members of society.

Is it conditional sentence?


texts: Do I say "Chris's being annoying" or do contractions not work in this scenario?

texts: I'm just confused on how the "is" contraction would work on words that end in 's'


texts:
What is the correct collocation here?
Do you walk across the crosswalk, through the crosswalk, or on the crosswalk? Or can you say cross the crosswalk?


texts:
Psalm 127:4-7:

  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

Does this mean "Have a lot of kids"? And to whom does the they refer to in the last sentence?


texts: Would writing "well-coiffed" automatically imply nicely styled hair, or do you need to say well-coiffed hair or something similarly specific?


texts: Difference between "come by" and "come to my office"

texts:
What is the difference between come by and come to with a destination?

Come by my office
Come to my office

Such a phrase might be used by a lecturer:

If you want my help, please come by (or to) my office this evening.

Collins doesn't really help with come by (it says "to obtain or find", which makes no sense here).


texts:
Which one is correct?

  "Arithmetic logic unit developmental notes"

vs

  "Arithmetic logic unit development notes"

And, if both are correct, what is the difference between the two phrases?


texts:
I'm fairly terrible at English, is this correct usage of a colon?

  Bigotry unfortunately doesn’t just relate to opinions: it refers to
  intolerance towards ethnicities and beliefs

Thanks.


texts: Term for words which can have the same or opposite meanings in different contexts?

texts:
For example, usually up and down refer to opposite directions. However, in American English, we could say we are "down" to do something or we are "up" to do it and mean the same thing -- that we want to do it.

Similarly, hot and cool are opposite temperatures, but can also both be used to mean fashionably attractive/impressive.

Totally open to the possibility that the fact that I can only think of very colloquial examples of this phenomenon means I'm overthinking this, but if there's already a term for this out there I'd love to hear it.

(Also, please let me know if there are other more appropriate tags for this question -- on review, these seemed to be the best)

Edit: From thinking about this more, a more precise statement might be:
There is a set of four words which are two pairs of homographs. One word in each pair is the antonym of one in the other pair, while the other in each pair is a synonym for the other word in the pair.

For example, call hot1 the word which means "a high temperature" and hot2 the word which means "fashionable/trendy". Then call cool1 the word which means "a cool temperature" and cool2 the word which means "fashionable/trendy". hot1 and hot2 and homographs, as are cool1 and cool2. Further, hot1 is an antonym of cold1, and hot2 is a synonym of cold2.

Still not sure if a general term for the situation has sprung up.


texts: Is it common to say "that [month] night"?

texts:
I know it's common to say:

  I was in my apartment that Wednesday night, lights off, curtains
  drawn, shopping on the Internet.

How about?

  I was in my apartment that January night, lights off, curtains drawn,
  shopping on the Internet.


texts: What is the correct idiom to say that "I read" many papers "without considering the details"?

texts: What is the correct idiom to say that "I read" many papers "without considering the details" only to get the necessary pieces of information I needed and in a very fast way. Is there one? Is it a formal idiom?


texts:
I come across this word alot and I get confused of it's meaning as the definition change from one context to another. so what is the real meaning of checksum in a simple English.

I am programmer and I have seen it in many topics/books and the meaning changes slightly, sometimes it is used  to mean result other times it is used as a verification or confirmation , also English is not my mother tongue, hence the confusion


texts: Is there a word or phrase that means: similar in scenario, but opposite in cause/reason?

texts:
For example, a friend and I are playing a game and we are both stuck at a certain point in said game.

I'm stuck because my character isn't strong enough, I don't do enough damage. My friend is stuck because their character isn't tough enough, they cannot take any hits.

Both of these are similar scenarios, we can't get past this part of the game, but the reason we each can't is completely opposite.


texts: Word for an event that will likely never happen again

texts:
I've read this question, but none of them are what I am looking for. I once read a book that used a word to describe an event that has happened in the past, but the odds were so astronomical that it will likely never happen a second time. The context I read these words in were the creation of the first life on earth (without any theological ideas). Basically, the text said that the scenario for the creation of the first living organism happened on a planet where conditions were just right by complete chance, and that the odds of this were so astronomical that it would likely never happen again anywhere in the universe over any length of time.

Sample sentence: "The creation of the first organisms was incredibly unlikely, the event can be called a _________ event, or an event that will likely never happen again."

I can't pretend to understand the validity of the claims by the text, but the words they used to describe these events were quite clever (and scientific sounding) that it would make a fun hyperbole.

I thought it was something along the lines of singularity event, but that doesn't sound quite right.


texts:
There are words in the chorus of the "Preacher and the Slave" song by Joe Hill:

You will eat, by and by,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die

What does "by and by" mean?


texts: Punctuation between clauses when the first clause is a series

texts:
I have this sentence:

  Even if I seem too busy, or you made a mistake, or someone we care about will be upset, or
  you feel embarrassed, if anything bothers you, I want to know.

I believe that it is correctly punctuated as is, right?

I have a style question... Would the sentence be easier to parse if there was a dash between embarrassed and if instead of a comma? And is that an accepted punctuation choice for a sentence like this?

  Even if I seem too busy, or you made a mistake, or someone we care about will be upset, or
  you feel embarrassed--if anything bothers you, I want to know.

Thank you for your help!


texts: What are the associations of the word "Heights" in a city name?

texts:
There are lots of cities and other designations with the word "Heights" in the name. Does this refer to something specific? Is it a marketing tactic perhaps?

Examples:

Hacienda Heights
Sterling Heights
Washington Heights
Golan Heights


texts: Yesterday I saw a lesson of English on TV. The teacher asked to some people to translate (from Italian) some expression. One is: "What can you say to a person to invite him into your office?" and lot of people answer: "Can you come in my office?". The teacher said that it is wrong, because it sound like an erotic invite and the correct sentence is "Can you come to/into my office?" Is it correct? Because here: What do I have to say when I enter into a house? someone answer me to say "May I come in?". Is it misleading?


texts: Term for noise shoes make when filled with water?

texts:
The 'brogue' shoe originated in Ireland, where it was often "constructed using untanned hide with perforations, allowing water to drain when crossing wet terrain such as a bog" according to Wikipeda.

However, most shoes don't have these holes for draining the water out - so in wet environments, your footwear may fill with water. Is there a particular name for the sound they make when you walk?

Squelch is close, but is more related to walking through a bog and the noise you make as you step on the bog, not because of the water in your shoes.


texts:
I was reading this answer which referenced a number of 18th century publications which capitalised their non-proper nouns:

In 1769, in "The Microscope made easy":

  "Mention having been often made of a Screen to throw the Images of
  Objects on, it is proper to inform the Reader, that such a Screen is
  usually composed of a Sheet of the largest Elephant Paper, strained on
  a frame, which slides up or down, or turns about at Pleasure on a
  round wooden Pillar, in the Manner of some Fire-screens. Larger
  Screens are likewise made sometimes with several Sheets of the same
  Paper pasted together on Cloth, and let down from the Ceiling with a
  Roller, like a large Map"

1742, in Micrographia Nova: Or, a New Treatise on the Microscope

  Thus if a lens of about 6, 8, or 10 Feet focal Distance, be fix'd in
  the Scioptric Ball, then if the Sun shine strongly on the Objects
  without, opposite to the Window, the Images of all will be distinctly
  form'd on a Wall or large Sheet or Screen of white Paper placed in
  the Focus of the Glass; the result of which will be a beautiful and
  most perfect Piece of Perspective, if the Objects are Buildings,
  &c. but Gardens, Fields, Meadows, Hills, Groves &c. present you with a most exquisite and inimitable Landscape

This is still the case for the German language, but English lost this property somewhere between that time and now.

When did English stop requiring capitalisation of non-proper nouns?


texts: "A myriad of emotions 'greet/greets' me"

texts: Here, "myriad" is a noun, and I suppose "myriad of emotions" is a prepositional phrase, so presumably the verb must agree with "myriad"?


texts: Is expressing a desire for harm the same as making a threat?

texts:
If someone says "I hope you and your family burn to death" and "I wish I could slit your throat", are these considered threats, or are they just someone expressing a hope (however repugnant)?

I would think for them to be threats, they would have to be reworded to be more like "I will burn you and your family to death" and "I will slit your throat". Is that not the case?

edit: I am asking if the above statements expressing a desire can strictly and/or technically be considered to be a threat, when looking at a definition from a reputable dictionary (merriam-webster or oxford, not dictionary.com).

I am not asking about how people might perceive them, as that has nothing to do with whether or not the statements are actually threats or not.

Editing because I can't reply to comments yet.


texts: What would you call this・thing, that keeps the water in the sink while I do the dishes?


texts: "desert island" versus "deserted island"

texts: What is the difference between "a desert island" and "a deserted island"? Are they synonymous?


texts: "How long have you stayed there?" vs "How long did you stay there?"

texts:
I have a doubt about the difference between those two questions.

Could you guys give me an appropriate examples and explanation?

Thanks in advance!


texts: Obama said "gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process". Did he misspeak?

texts:
“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process,” Obama said in response to a question about the primary, according to CNN. (source)

Obama's use of the phrase "gin up about" grates. People say "gin up something" to mean to stir up something, to generate or create something, controversy or sentiment. I have also heard "we need to gin up the economy" used mostly in semi-official contexts, meaning "revive, strengthen", which seems somewhat close to Obama's intended meaning.
It appears Obama meant to say people should be prepared for or pumped about whoever emerged as the winner of the Democratic primaries and get ready to support them. But I have never heard "gin up about". A quick Google Books search points to only one modern attestations from National Journal. The content is garbled, possibly from OCR problems, but it could also be from Obama. I have also read this page where the origin of the phrase is discussed and "to excite or enliven" is mentioned as a possible meaning, but still nothing about "gin up about".
Obama is a capable and fairly eloquent speaker (very much so compared to someone), but did he misuse this phrase?


texts: What is an appropriate antonym for "genesis"?

texts:
In my academic discipline (meteorology), I very occasionally see lysis used to refer to dissipation of a system where genesis has been used to describe its initial development.

However, lysis seems to really only have biological connotations, so is this usage correct? If not, what would an appropriate antonym for genesis be?


texts: grammatical doubt over unfinished timeline contexts

texts:
Grammatically, we go with present perfect when referring to the actions where the time is still unfinished.

I have phoned him today.
I have watched a movie this week.

But to have a conversation over what happened today, should it be completely in present perfect as the time is still unfinished or past simple?
For example, do we always use auxiliary verbs to create the present perfect:

I have called him today, he has answered the call and has given the details of the project. We have also discussed several other things regarding the project and he has given a detailed explanation.

Or can they be omitted, using the past simple?

I called him today, he answered the call and gave the details of the project. We also discussed several other things regarding the project and he gave a detailed explanation.

In some cases, it does appear to make a difference:

a. Peter watched this movie many times this week (If we just use past simple in this context, does it mean that peter is dead?)
b. Peter has watched this movie many times this week.


texts:
Is there a word for congruence between a software platforms' purpose/structure and the actual experience of using it?
For example, is there a word for the congruence of the purpose, structure, workflow of a collaborative learning software platform and the actual experience and process of using the platform for learning collaboration?
Example:
Our SaaS platform's deeper learning workflow is fully __________________ (congruent?) with the actual process of using deeper learning for professional growth.


texts: It seems that the sentence "A young mind will flourish with the proper guidance" could be rewritten as "A young mind will be flourished with the proper guidance" without major difference in meaning. Are these two sentences equal? If they are, is there any rule for such a situation?


texts:
I've heard both "cater to" and "cater towards" used, but I was wondering which one was correct. For example:

  The event's theme seemed to cater to the artistic crowd.
  The event's theme seemed to cater towards the artistic crowd.

Are there rules for this?  Which is correct?


texts: Avoiding "was able to be" in the passive voice

texts:
Considering https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/could (point "Could + smell, taste, think, believe, etc."), I assume that one is allowed to use "could" to refer to single achievements in the past when the sentence is in the passive voice.

For instance:

  The probability of obtaining suboptimal solutions could be lowered by simply making the optimiser search more but similar waveforms

is better than:

  The probability of obtaining suboptimal solutions was able to be lowered by simply making the optimiser search more but similar waveforms

Two points:

obviously, only the context helps the reader to know that "could be" does not mean "is likely to be/may be". In the sentences before this one, I used exclusively simple past, so the tense should be clear in my humble opinion.
the latter sentence also causes a problem since "able" is used for a thing, which is usually reserved for living beings (at least in standard English as far as I am aware)

For me, "be" is also a stative verb like "smell, taste, think, believe" mentioned in the Cambridge article. I know that I can rewrite the sentence and use phrases like "it was possible" or "one managed to", but I would like to avoid these here.

So am I right in thinking that one can use "could be" in the passive voice to mean "was able to be", which sounds awkward?

PS: I am already aware of this article here: "was able to" vs "could", but it didn't help me in this regard. Help would be much appreciated!


texts: what would be a concept in which "marriage" is one of its instances?

texts:
I'm trying to refer to a marriage but I've used the word too much already in my paragraph so I need to find another word which I could use in a sentence like:

"I had the pleasure to attend to the -------"

In Spanish, I could say something like "tuve el placer the estar presente para tan feliz ocasión¨ but that´s really hard to translate with a dictionary. Many things could constitute a ¨feliz ocasión" (~ happy occurrence), but it's clear from the context I'm referring to the marriage.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Edit: Some clarification that I wrote below.

Imagine we are discussing the concept of "tragedy". Many things can be an instance of a tragedy, for example death, a certain illness, a certain outcome of some situation, they all can be referred to as "tragedy" with the appropriate context. I'm looking for the same thing for marriage, something in which marriage is one of the possibilities


texts: What does “suck a salt grain off a beach” mean?

texts:
In association with my question of the usage of “blood-dimmed (flood /tragedy) in Maureen Dowd’s article in New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/dowd-peeping-president-obama.html?hp - there was the following statement:

  “It was quaint to think we had any privacy left, once Google,
  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram braided themselves into our days and
  nights.
  As Gene Hackman, playing a disillusioned N.S.A. analyst in
  the 1998 movie “Enemy of the State” put it, the agency has been in bed
  with the telecommunications industry for decades, and “they can suck a
  salt grain off a beach.”

Though I surmise “they can suck a salt grain off a beach” figuratively means to obtain private information of people indirectly, not through a direct contact (to the sea - people) I’m not sure of.”

What does “sack a salt grain off a beach” mean? Is it an idiomatic expression, or twist of a saying? If it is the twist of, or borrowing from something, what is the original source? Why did Dowd put the phrase in parenthesis (correction: quote)?


texts: What do I call a number that has a period in it?

texts:
My brain is standing completely still on this. I'm sure I've known this in the past. The difference between the number:

123

and

123.25

is obviously that the first number number is a "full" number. There is no fraction of a number that requires that the number be written with a period symbol and more numbers describing the fraction.

What is a number called when it can be written without a period, and what is it called otherwise? Also, what are the numbers behind the period symbol called? (So really this is a request for three words, not one. I hope that flies.)


texts: Word to describe a flower fading out from existence

texts:
For a flower to "bloom" means that it comes into existence. What would be a word that means it is fading out from existence?

  blooming flowers

I got these antonyms from google search, none seems to match.

sterile
barren
declining
fading
unfruitful


texts:
Consider this sentence:

  I want to join the contest..

Which is more correct, "so bad" or "so badly"?

I'm leaning towards the latter because it is an adverb and an adverb is required to describe a verb or an adjective. As with the case above, badly should describe want.

I am not sure though if the former is acceptable. And if it is, why so?


texts: In the context of customer support, when a team owns a ticket and it finds out the correct owner should be another team, they "hand the ticket off" and the new team "takes it ower". Why handoff and not "handover and "takeover"?


texts: Origin of "It is the long history of humankind that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”?

texts:
I am looking for the source of the quote

It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those
who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have
prevailed

A search online indicates it derives from Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species ' in 1859, and that it may have been paraphrased. Yet, I cannot find which section of the book it might derive from.
Could anyone suggest a source and page number?


texts: Verb for 'try to find something you have in common with somebody'

texts:
Is there a verb which means 'try to find something in common with someone'? In this context for example:

Everyone has the urge to commit a murder sometimes, we both do too.
Don't you try to ... (with me), you criminal!

Keep in mind that this probably isn't  a perfect example, but I hope you understand what I mean. I thought of 'sympathize' for a while, but it is not quite what I'm looking for..


texts: Verb that means "to find the difference of two states"

texts:
Context

I have two sets of data, dataset1 and dataset2. They may be different from each other, both in content and in structure. I am going to generate the list of these differences.

Example

dataset1 has a column called "Name", dataset2 does not have this column, so adding the column "Name" to dataset2 would be generated in this list of actions.

Conclusion

I need a verb that describes that whole process.

  I am going to _____________ dataset1 and dataset2

One that comes to mind is differentiate, but I have seen that used more in pure mathematics and I don't feel like it captures the actual intent.


texts: Is there a generic name for something with advent calendar-like windows?

texts: Advent calendars are a panel with little windows that reveal some surprise inside (maybe a picture, sweet, or some message). It seems unlikely to me that advent calendars are the only device that has this form factor (windows with things inside). As such, is there a generic name for such a device, independent of its function in the religious holiday?


texts: Is "dogged with questions" a valid use of the work "dogged"?

texts:
I just used the phrase "dogged with questions" in a sentence, where dogged was meant to mean "pestered", "bugged", "swamped" or "bombarded".

Is this valid? I did look up the definition but most examples look like this:

  Her dogged efforts eventually paid off.

Suggesting it's closer to "persistent". Also, as I read the definition in my head, I realised it's pronounced "dog-ed" not "docked"

Google does offer this example:

  the twenty-nine-year-old has constantly been dogged by controversy

But I don't know if the word "by" can be replaced with "with", and it is a synonym of "pestered". I'm also not sure whether it's pronounced "dog-ed" or "docked" in this instance.

Can it be used in the phrase "dogged with questions"?


texts: Can "where" be used as a subordinate conjunction in place of "on which" when the location is logical rather than physica?

texts:
This is in a technical document.  The sentence currently reads:

  With whole-object protection, all the data for each object in a replicated namespace is maintained on each HCP system in a replication topology, except on systems on which the namespace is on a metadata-only storage tier.

What you need to know:  A namespace exists on a system.  A namespace is a logical grouping of objects, not a physical thing.

The question:  Can "where" be used in place of "on which" in the sentence in question?

My opinion:  No.  But I"m not sure why.  All thoughts are appreciated.


texts: What do you call a statue that is built to commemorate a person?

texts:
Example:

  They built him a [...] to commemorate his achievements and
  contributions to society.


texts: Is there a specific word in English for the owner of a pond/pool?

texts: In china, there are many pools/ponds for finishing, I am wondering is there any specific word for the owner of a pond/pool?


texts: How to express "From the point of view of Information Theory"?

texts: I would like start a sentence with "From the point of view of information theory, ...", but this sounds a bit uneloquent to me. Can I say, "From an information theoretical point of view, ...", or would that be wrong, too? What would be a good way to say this?


texts: Is it right to say 'He is contracted with a virus which causes his immunity to be weak against diseases'? Can the word 'contract' be used with 'with'? Thanks.


texts: Rules for capitalization in presentation titles

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Which words in a title should be capitalized?

Hi everyone,

I am German and the German language follows very strict rules of capitalization: A word starts with an upper case letter if its a noun or at the beginning of a sentence. In the English language however, nouns are usually written with a lower case letter at the beginning.

But right now I am working on the slides for a presentation and I wonder what the rules for capitalization are in titles? I do have a template here and on that it looks like in titles all nouns are written with an upper case letter in front. Is this true? What is the general rule here?


texts: What's the antonym of miss, as in "I miss something"?

texts:
Is there an antonym for miss in the context of "missing" something?

If a person were happy that something were gone, is there an appropriate single word?

I've arrived at "they are glad it's gone", but was curious if there is a single word?

  Example:

  A character in a story has a parasite for a long period of time.  The parasite is removed and the character exclaims "I ____ the parasite".  They are stating that they are pleased the parasite is gone; the opposite of "I miss the parasite".  "Don't miss" does not convey the pleasure of being free of said parasite.  Miss has an emotion component, where that the opposite should convey.

This question has been answered for the Alternate definitions of missing.


texts: Connotations of "anoint someone" as successor

texts:
I saw this headline on the BBC today:

  China anoints Xi as new leader

There is one entry in the definition at Google's dictionary which exactly corresponds to the case in use:

  Nominate or choose (someone) as successor to or leading candidate for
  a position
  - he was anointed as the organizational candidate of the party
  - his officially anointed heir

Although this entry doesn't have any mention to religiousness or ceremoniousness, I wonder: Is there a connotation religious or ceremonial connotation to the use of anoint in this case?


texts: Term for strong, forceful mode of speech

texts:
How would I best describe a mode of speech that is strong and forceful, especially when voicing a complaint?  I’m looking to strengthen this sentence, ideally by getting rid of the adverb construction:

  She complained loudly about the bad customer service.


texts:
I often receive business emails starting with "Dear Daniel..." or "Hello Daniel..." although I haven't been into contact with the sender before. As an Austrian citizen (thus german speaking) this is quite unusual to me, I always write "Dear Mr. Smith..." or "Hello Mr. Smith...".

When is it appropriate to address someone with Mr/Mrs instead of his given name?


texts: Can "plunge" be used for a "horizontal dive"?

texts:
You often plunge into the sea or plunge you hands into your pockets.

Can the word be used to describe a "horizontal immersion"?

Example sentence:

  She opened the door and plunged into the blinding sun.

If not, what's a more appropriate word?


texts:
Which of the following sentences is grammatically right?

I am contemptuous of my History teacher.

I am contemptuous to my History teacher.


texts: Does this pun make sense to native speakers?

texts:
If one were to play the pipes without an audience, would that constitute an "exercise in flutility"?

Not sure if that pun works on native speakers…


texts:
Suppose you want to ask someone to change from slow lane to the fast lane while driving. What do you say to mean this? From the Web I see that the following two options may be used:

1) Pull into the fast lane. (About 10,200 results given by Google)

2) Move into the fast lane. (About 6,300,000 results given by Google!)

What confuses me is the following results:

3) Pull into the slow lane. (About 18,000 results given by Google)

4) Move into the slow lane. (About 15,500 results given by Google)

Question 1: What is so special about "Move into the fast lane"? It seems that it is used much more than the other sentences, even compared to "Pull into the fast lane".

Question 2: Is there any difference between "pull into" and "move into"?

Question 3: What are the right/common sentences to use in these cases?


texts:
The strange example makes me confused - with + adverb : "Red items need dealing with immediately after the process..."

How correct and common of this structure?


texts: If it's not extrapolation, interpolation or estimation, what is it?

texts: As a Vocational Evaluator, I'm tasked with producing grade-levels, based on another clinician's work.  He used the Woodcock-Johnson to produce standard scores, but he didn't include grade-levels.  I solve this problem by using the Wide-Range Achievement Test IV tables to convert SS to raw scores, which I then plug into the corresponding WRAT age-based grade-level tables, to get GL.  What can I call this process.  I don't like extrapolation, interpolation or estimation.  What else is there?


texts: Grammar - Having known subject for X years, I am sure that

texts:
There is a following expression:

  Having known him for more than 10 years since we were at the same school, I am sure that...

This sentence seems weird to me. What it is trying to say is:

  I have known him for more than 10 years ..., I am sure that...

Is it grammatically and stylistically correct to use 'having known' here? Can you suggest a way how to avoid using 'having known'?


texts: Looking for a word that means an implicit assumption

texts:
For example, if one believes that A is true, whereas A is true because of some unspoken assumption B.
Is there a word to describe such B?


texts: Ovine Wordplay: On the 'lam' vs. On the 'lamb'

texts:
Pardon me for feeling a bit sheepish; this is my first time posting a question here.

I am known - and revered, as far as I can tell - as something of a pun wizard at my workplace. Today, on our internal work chat, the topic turned (as it does) to raiding barbecues, prompting me to make the comment:

  "We stole the beef, now we're on the lam!"

Needless to say, thought my pun was mutton short of amazing... All but two, who criticized my using the word "lam" (i.e. the 'correct' meaning of the phrase) rather than "lamb" (i.e. the meat, as it were, of the pun).

I maintain that using the word "lam" was funnier, as it better pointed out the usage of a somewhat uncommon phrase, as well as making the pun seem more thought-provoking and high-brow (yeah, right). But it made me wonder if perhaps my delivery was baaad.

As another example, for this very post I considered writing that writing my first question here evoked "shear terror" (or something to that effect - it was a work in progress!) but would have used the word "shear" (the substitution) rather than "sheer" (the original meaning) - which is the opposite to my original pun.

So my question is whether there is a specific convention when it comes to wordplay of this nature, of is it more dependent on the artistic whim of the punsmith?

Thank ewe in advance for any input.


texts:
Is there a categorical noun to describe subjective activities that are prominent in conscious attention, but aren't thought?

e.g. enjoying music, meditating.

Example Sentence:

  In its whole capacity, the mind is not limited to thinking, but also to XX activities, which include experiencing music and meditation.


texts:
I've seen a photo of a sign, from a site that I believe is a hiking route in the US, warning about extreme heat. It reads

    WARNING!
  Extreme heat

Minimum 1 bottle
water per person

   No sandals
    Wear hat

Is using "one bottle water" instead of "one bottle of water" a common abbreviation in contexts like road signs?

Is "bottle" being used as an unit of measurement? I'm thinking of an usage such as "1 kg apples" (without "of") that is – I believe – the standard writing for "one kilogram of apples" (with "of") in contexts such as recipes.


texts: Trying to find a word that is similar to "percent", but for direct ratios

texts:
Suppose I have, for example, two sets.  Set A has 20 elements and set B has 5 elements.  I could say that B is 25 percent the size of A.  I'd like a word that would let me succinctly make it clear that a number is a proportion or ratio, but without the need to scale it by 100.  So in the previous example, I'd like to say "B is .25 word of A", or something similar.

If I were dealing with probabilities instead of cardinalities, I could say "B will happen with probability/frequency/likelihood x" instead of "B happens x percent of the time".  I'd be fine with that sort of form as well.

Right now, I frequently find myself trying to avoid unwieldy sentences like "Converge until the ratio of the number of elements in one of B_i to the number of elements in A is at least x" when I would like to be able to say something analogous to "Converge until at least x percent of A is in one of B_i."

Edit:
I may not have been as clear as I'd hoped. It's not that I want to avoid the word percent.  Percent is merely the closest word in meaning to the one I'm looking for.  Ideally, I want a word such that, given real number x in [0,1], "x (word) of A" is equivalent to "(100 x) percent of A".

x isn't a fixed or known value, so saying things like "1/4 the size" isn't an option.  I used specific values in some of the examples in hopes that it would make things clearer, but apparently it had the opposite effect.

"Converge until at least x (word) of A is in one of B_i" is the sort of context in which I would be using it.  There certainly exist better ways to phrase it than the alternative I used, but since the goal was to illustrate how unwieldy these alternate phrasings get sometimes, I didn't bother finding a good one for this particular case.

I could use "percent" as long as I replace all instances of "x" with "100x", but since I'm only multiplying by 100 so "percent" can divide by 100 again, that's rather inelegant.  I'd like to keep the "The preceding number is a proportion" part of the meaning of percent, but without the "and must be divided by 100 to get the value I'm actually using in all the math" part.


texts: Pronunciation of "the" before a long u sound

texts:
All my life I have been hearing and pronouncing /ði/(unstressed) in "the US", "the UK" and "the UN", but I'm not sure that was correct.

How do you pronounce "the" before a long u sound?
I searched questions and answers in this forum and over the Internet, but could not find any rules.


texts: 'XYZ University' vs. 'The University of XYZ'?

texts: I was wondering about the use of the word 'university' with city names and/or special proper nouns. So, for example, what's the difference between 'Aleppo University' and 'The University of Aleppo'?


texts: How is the present perfect “connected” with the present?

texts:
Practical English Usage and the Cambridge Grammar of English say
that the present perfect “is connected in some way with the present.”

Neither book explains this, and this is why I’m asking for you to indicate
how the present perfect “is connected in some way with the present” in
the examples below — by saying, for example, “The past is connected with
the present in ‘She has lived here all her life’ ... (your answer).”

Examples  (not from Cambridge)

Has lived: She has lived here all her life.
Have written: They have written three letters already.
Have worked: I have worked here since I graduated school.
Has done: He has finished his homework.
Have been: We have been to Canada.
Has forgotten: She has forgotten her folder.


texts: Is "each" an adverb, pronoun, determiner, or what else?

texts:
What do Online Dictionaries Say?
Cambridge Dictionaries Online says each is used as an adverb in the following examples:

There are five leaflets – please take one of each.
Each of the brothers has a different personality.
It’s 500 miles each way.
The bill comes to $80, so that’s $20 each

Oxford Dictionaries says each is a determiner and a pronoun in the following

each one of us was asked what went on (determiner)
Derek had money from each of his five uncles (pronoun)

Merriam-Webster's entry for each states it is an adjective,

A rope was tied to each end of the boat.
Each student had a different explanation.

a pronoun,

He took shot after shot, each missing by inches

and an adverb

They cost 50 cents each.
We were allowed two tries each.

But Wikipedia tells me that each is an indefinite pronoun

Each of the players has a doctor

and Grammar Monster (which btw I really like) says that each is an indefinite adjective

An indefinite adjective is used to describe a noun in a non-specific
sense.
The most common indefinite adjectives are: any, each, few, many, much,
most, several, and some.
They are often used to describe a noun to show an element of uncertainty.
Indefinite adjectives should not be confused with indefinite pronouns. Indefinite adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. Indefinite pronouns are standalone pronouns

Examples

I gave my friends a book each
I gave each a book
I gave each of my three friends a book
I gave a book to each one of my friends
Each one of my friends received a book
Each friend of mine received a book

I believe that all the sentences above are grammatical. If any are considered non-standard in English, please please tell me!
QUESTIONS

For sentence No. 1, I cannot find a satisfying "tag" to place on each. Since the word "each" is placed at the end of a sentence, I suppose it must be an adverb but it feels like a quantifier to me because it tell me how many books, i.e. to each of my friends. Is each in No.1 an adverb? Why?

Sentence 2 is definitely a pronoun.

For sentences 3, 4, and 5 "each of" and "each one of" can be substituted with all of, with no loss in meaning. But are each of and each one of pronouns? If we use a pronoun to replace a noun phrase or a noun, then how can each in: each (one) of my friends be a pronoun? And I imagine it can't be an indefinite pronoun because we know exactly "how many" people in sentence 3. Oxford Dictionaries suggest that each of is a pronoun but each one of is a determiner.

In sentence 6 each is an adjective/determiner/indefinite adjective because it tells us something about the number of friends. Right?


texts: What does "freighted" mean in the context?

texts:
(Talking about paying more for expedited access in an airport and amusement park...)

  Expedited access to the Revenge of Mummy thrill ride may be spiritually morally less freighted than privileged access to an airport security check.

Here's the question: what does the word "freighted" mean in the sentence?
I am confused because it seems weird in the meaning of "cargo". Is there any other interpretation for the word?


texts: What's the difference between "have you seen?" and "have you ever seen?"

texts: I've searched high and low and can't find an explanation to show what is the difference. Is 'ever' for emphasis here?


texts:
The passage below comes from Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary.

  It would be pleasantly scary if the pioneer ancestors had left a ghost
  or two around the house, perhaps in the cupola, but these ancestors
  must have been too busy clearing the land and settling the state of
  Oregon to participate in any ghostly activities like people in some of
  the sad old songs Mama sometimes sang. As far as Emily knew, there was
  not a brokenhearted damsel or a disappointed lover killed in a duel in
  the lot.

I'm not quite certain about the meaning of the boldfaced LOT.
I think it means

  a. A piece of land having specific boundaries, especially one constituting a part of a city, town, or block.
  http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lot

Am I right?


texts: should I use a comma, a period, or an em dash?

texts:
I want a big house, a house that is big enough for my family.
or
I want a big house—a house that is big enough for my family.
or
I want a big house. A house that is big enough for my family.


texts: Uses of to-infinitive in passive sentences

texts:
First, I would like you to look at these two sentences:

'I used scissors to cut it.'
'I wore glasses to read a book.'

And I am going to form passive sentences from the two.

'Scissors were used to cut it(this makes sense, right?)
'Glasses were worn to read a book'(this.. doesn't make sense to me at all.. I don't know why)

Does the second sentence make sense to you?
Why doesn't the second sentence make sense to me?


texts: What is a word that describes someone who is thought to have some characteristics by others?

texts:
To describe someone who thinks of themselves to have some characteristics, I guess we can use "wannabe".

What is a word that describes someone who is thought to have some characteristics by others, that is, a word meaning "supposed-to-be" or "thought-to-be"?

For example,  I want to improve the word choices in

  If you can convince the superior-wannabe they are better than the inferior-thought-to-be, they won’t notice you’re picking their pocket. Give them somebody to look down on, and they’ll empty their pockets for you.

Thanks.


texts: Is it correct to pronounce all "wh" words with the aspiration?  I am referring to the words like "what", "when", "where", which are normally not aspirated when said.  And if so, is it more prestigious to do so?


texts: Is there a word or expression to describe a really bad computer bug?

texts:
Is there a term, more colloquial than professional, that expresses the severity of a bug. "This computer bug is so bad, nobody can use the software as intended". In a sentence is would be "This bug is a ____" or this bug is ____ (adj)."
I've heard reference to terms like "critical" and "serious" used professionally in bug tracking software, but that doesn't seem to express well enough just how bad the problem is, seem overused. I need to be able to communicate to management just how terrible, and if a thousand bugs are labeled as "critical" but aren't actually stopping people from doing their work, this needs to be seen as 10x worse.
There must be some kind of term, like "work-stopping" "show-stopper", but I can't quite recall the term.


texts:
My English teachers strenuously denied it, but languages are not immutable. Centuries ago, Daniel Webster regularized the American spelling of various words ("center", "draft", etc). More recently, the public literally flipped the meaning of the word "literally" through chronic misuse.

Have there been successful, intentional campaigns to change the spelling and/or meaning of words within living memory? How or why did they succeed?

Changes that happened passively because people could care less [sic] about proper usage don't count.


texts: Where is "in honoring" or "to honor" more appropriate as an idiom?

texts:
The practice of renaming a street Martin Luther King Boulevard has been adopted by many cities in honoring/to honor the civil rights leader.

Please give explanation.


texts: What is the ", gerund" sentence called, and how can I improve it?

texts:
I'm proofreading a friend's paper, and she often creates sentences of the form:
Sentence, gerund-phrase

Examples:

Consumers may question the legitimacy of producer actions, determining
their practices undermine the community.
Groups operate as focal points, creating a sense of community.
Research typically focuses on what unites individuals within a
community, documenting consumer's shared experiences.

Is there a name for such a sentence structure? For me, although I can understand the intent of the sentence, I think they're a bit confusing and could be better worded:

Consumers may question the legitimacy of producer actions and determine that
their practices undermine the community.
Groups operate as focal points and create a sense of community.
Research typically focuses on what unites individuals within a
community and documents consumer's shared experiences.

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on the matter?


texts: proper way to write the slang term for “gravitational force”

texts:
I came across something very similar to this in a thriller novel:

  At this stage, the rocket is experiencing its maximum acceleration, say about ten gees.

Here, the author has spelled out the common military-pilot slang term for “gravitational force” using gee.  However, as this term is an abbreviation, and is commonly treated as a unit of measurement (of acceleration) I'd have expected the written form to be g’s.

By analogy, I have heard people speak the unit “kilometer per hour” using the two-letter symbol for kilometer.  However, I would expect this to be transcribed as “km per hour” versus “kay em per hour”.

Is this use of gee common?  Is it correct?


texts:
I was just reading William and Ceil Baring-Gould's sadly under-Annotated Mother Goose, in which rhyme #274 is:

Hyer iddle diddle dell,
A yard of pudding's not an ell;
Not forgotten, tweedle-dye,
A tailor's goose will never fly.

Characteristically, the Baring-Goulds footnote the literal meaning of "ell," but are completely silent on the tougher meaning of "yard." (And never mind trying to explain the nonsense syllables!)
I'm vaguely familiar with the concept of a "yard of ale" — Wiktionary says it's "The amount of ale that fills a very tall tapering beer glass (approximately 1 yard)," not that that really narrows it down if you don't provide the width of the glass too. Wikipedia says roughly 1.4 liters.
I found this reference from John Taylor's 1639 A Juniper Lecture:

... a bowle of pottage that holds a Gallon, and a Barly bagge pudding of a yard long, and some Bull Beefe ...

and this reference from John Shipp (1840):

I was exceedingly hungry ... I longed for a slice ... [Finally, Shipp and the plum-pudding woman] agreed that in consideration of a quarter of a yard of pudding and a shilling, to be to me paid and delivered, my new shoes were to be handed over to the dealer in plum pudding, as her own proper goods and chattels. This contract being honourably completed, I retreated [to eat his quarter-yard of pudding in a single sitting "without any great exertion."]

I'm also vaguely familiar with the idea of a boiled pudding, in the Christmas-pudding sense, but I thought those were typically ball-shaped. I'm tempted to guess that a "plum-pudding dealer" might well use a long skinny bag to make it easier to portion out slices, and that a "yard of pudding" would just be a three-foot slice from one of these long skinny pudding-sausages... but is that right?
Looking for some historical context to connect the dots here. How precise of a measuring unit is this "yard"? How much hunger would be sated by a quarter-yard of plum pudding? Can anything besides ale and pudding be measured in "culinary yards"? :)
EDITED TO ADD: The nursery rhyme that kicked this all off is of the genre that the Baring-Goulds call "self-evident propositions." Commenter YosefBaskin points out that the nursery rhyme might be saying that just as a tailor's "goose" is not a member-of-the-category "birds," similarly a puddingwise "yard" is not a member-of-the-category "units of length"! However, I think it's equally reasonable to read it as saying that self-evidently a tailor's "goose" won't fly, and (independently) self-evidently a yard of anything is not as much as an ell of the same thing. It's not necessarily an exact parallel with the preceding line. (Trust me, I've read enough of these rhymes this week to know they're not all paragons of parallel construction! ;))


texts: Can an institution "attest to its highest academic standards"? Is that kind of attesting something only a person can do?

texts:
My full quotation is for a formal letter to a university president, congratulating her on becoming president.

"Under your leadership, I believe that Anytown University will continue to attest to its highest academic standards and contribute to the further advancement of higher education."

Is this correct, or can attesting only be done by a person?


texts: Inducing factor, activating factor, or operating factor?

texts:
I'm looking for a term to use in a research paper in order to express the main driving factor behind a sequence of chemical reactions.

Which one is better: Inducing factor, Activating factor, Operating factor

Or is there any other word which may be more appropriate for this condition?

.
.
.And i have to add that this factor that I am talking about is a kind of arrangment not a substance.


texts:
I was studying articles when I came across the following statement:

  There are other special modifiers called determiners or markers that may appear in front of a noun phrase. Do not use an article if you also intend to use any of the following markers directly before the noun: this, that, these, those, my, his, her, your, our, their, its, any, either, each, every, many, few, several, some, all.  (http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-language/articles)

However, I'm not sure about "all" because I came across phrases that included articles between "all" and the nouns. For example - "all the countries", "all the way", etc...

I would appreciate if anyone can clarify what the blockquote means and explain if there are exceptions.

Thanks


texts: What is the rule for using "from the time"?

texts:
Example usage:

  From the time I was elected, it was 3 years.


texts:
I remember finding this word in P. Spufford's Power and Profit, and now can't read it without once again fruitlessly checking reverse dictionaries.

It was used to describe a mass revival of investment after a downturn, and was either in the context of, or specifically referred to, removal of money stored in chests. I doubt it was divest or another common word; it could well have been a compound of re-, dis- or de-.


texts: Word or phrase for someone who talks with another person, but obviously looking around for someone more interesting. Like at a party, where my interlocutor is noticeably scanning the room for more interesting/attractive friends


texts: Word or phrase stronger than "most likely"?

texts:
Imagine this context:

  After we replaced the monitor, everything was fixed. Therefor the monitor was most likely the source of the problem.

I feel like given the right context, "most likely" doesn't sound strong enough, if that's the right word to use.

If I am 100% confident, I will say:

  He is wrong.

If I am 70-90% confident:

  He is most likely wrong.

But if I am 99% sure, what is a word or phrase that can get that message across?


texts: Is it correct to use “increasing” in this context?

texts:
I want to use this sentence in my paper. Is it correct grammatically?

  Microaggregation, as a Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) method, provides lower Disclosure Risk (DR) at the expense of increasing Information Loss (IL).

I’m not sure about the word “increasing”.


texts: There is any relation between the English verb "ask" and the French expression "est-ce que"?

texts:
I was thinking about the pronunciation of the English verb "ask" and how it's similar to the French expression "est-ce que", used to start questions in some cases. I searched for the origin of "ask" in the Oxford Dictionary of English (which comes with every Mac) and it states the following:

  Old English āscian, āhsian, āxian, of West Germanic origin.

So, no relation with French, apparently.

In any way, I'm still curious if they have the same etymological source. There is any relation between them?


texts: "Cola" vs "Coke" when asking for a drink to order

texts: Is it better to say "Cola" or "Coke" when ordering a Coca-Cola drink in a restaurant/bar?


texts: What American football position does this phrase refer to: "He plays back for Dartmouth"?

texts:
What football position does someone refer to when saying "He plays back for Dartmouth"? (I read it in a novel, which takes place in 1931)

Edit (more context):
 A conversation during the game between his friends, one of whom arrived late:

  "How’s he doing?"
   "He’s all right, I guess,” says one of the boys.
  “Decent run in the last series. Eleven yards.”


texts:
Here's the question my little bro asked me the other day.
The price of the vest is _ than the dress or the jacket.
A.lower B.the higher C.more expensive D.cheaper
To me, ACD seems to all fit but B.


texts: Does a comma have to be used before 'because'?

texts:
I have a big house because my parents are rich.
  I have a big house, because my parents are rich.

Are there are some exceptions as well?


texts:
Is there any clear line between a symphony and symphonic?

For long, I thought that a symphony was simply a "song" played by a symphonic orchestra. Then I realized that more often than not, the ensemble is actually also called symphony orchestra.

As a lot of this terminology is used on pages from all around the world (often translated by non-native speakers), I'd like to get some final clarification from an educated native speaker. Will you?

And to make the question complete, speaking of an ensemble, is there any difference in meaning in the following (and are they all equally correct): symphonic, symphonic orchestra, symphony, symphony orchestra, philharmonic, philharmonic orchestra (I know that most orchestras will have their "standardized" English names but speaking of a general classical orchestra, are all the terms identical?)


texts: Difference between "Past Progressive" and "Past Perfect Progressive"

texts:
From this resource I find two situational explanations of Past Progressive:

"Interrupted action in the past." with an example

  She was reading a book when the light went off, had a shower and left.

And for Past Perfect Progressive:

"To show that something started in the past and continued up until another action stopped it." with an example:

  They had been playing soccer when the accident occurred

For me both are kind of interruption. And both were continued up until another action stopped it. Are those bad examples? Or I am missing something? Or second part of Past Progressive ("had a shower and left.") is crucial?